Fatal crash kills wife & four children.

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nicolaou

No judgements, no issues, no point scoring.
Nic'
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January 20, 2002
Highway carnage: Dad critical after crash kills wife, four children
By ALAN CAIRNS, TRACY McLAUGHLIN and JENNIFER MORRISON -- Toronto Sun
COLDWATER -- A man who lost his wife and four kids in a cruel tragedy east of Windsor yesterday may have changed a flat tire and pulled onto Hwy. 401 moments before a transport truck rammed their minivan from behind.
Robert Steinhoff, 29, lost his wife Jamie, 25, their children Storm, 4, Seth, 2, and Saffron, 21, months, and his son, Robert Hughes, 8, when their van was crushed beyond recognition in the 5 a.m. crash.
Seth and his mother were thrown from the van while the other kids died in their seats, police said.
Steinhoff, who was driving, was taken to Hotel Dieu hospital in Windsor and is in critical condition after emergency surgery last night for internal injuries.
BROKE DOWN
Also killed were at least two of the Steinhoffs' five Akita dogs, among them three puppies, which they raised in their rented bungalow on Sturgeon Bay Rd. in Coldwater, Ont., just north of Orillia.
"I just don't believe this is true," their neighbour, Sharon Saunders, said as she broke down in tears.
"What will Bob do? What do you do when your whole family is snuffed out just like that?"
Saunders described the Steinhoffs as a "togetherness couple" who despite the overbearing workload of jobs, kids and dogs, were always "smooching in the backyard."
It is believed they were Jehovah's Witnesses and attended Kingdom Hall in Orillia.
Jamie, who worked as a cashier at a variety store, loved to paint and on Friday showed Saunders portraits of two children.
"It was odd. I noticed her beautiful black eyes ... I thought she had an angelic look to her."
Saunders said she saw the family set out from Coldwater at 10 p.m. Friday to visit relatives in Windsor.
The crash occurred on a stretch of highway between London and Windsor known as "Carnage Alley" and was only a few kilometres from where eight died and 40 were injured when 60 vehicles piled up in a fiery collision Sept. 3, 1999 when a thick blanket of fog descended in the area.
Sources say OPP investigators found a shredded tire in the wreckage of the Steinhoff family's 1990 Plymouth Voyager.
7 HOURS PASSED
Five minutes before the crash, police say, a passing motorist saw the Steinhoffs' minivan at the roadside in the westbound lanes with its four-way hazard lights on.
The flat tire would account for the seven hours that passed from leaving Coldwater to the time of the crash.
Police are also probing whether the van's lights were turned on and at what speed it was travelling when Robert Steinhoff took it back onto the highway.
A Windsor woman believed to be the kids' grandmother was overcome with grief last night.
"They were wonderful people," she said.
The truck driver, Kevin McPhail, 36, of Milton, told police he didn't see the Steinhoff vehicle.
Sources say 15 metres of skid marks on the road did not start until after the point of the crushing impact.
McPhail family members told The Sunday Sun last night he was "devastated" at the five deaths.
Other Coldwater neighbours were shocked to learn that such tragedy could strike such a young family.
John Lynn said Steinhoff was "tickled pink" over Christmas that his son from a prior marriage, Robert Hughes, had moved to Coldwater to live with him.
http://www.do-not-call.org
Simon

That's a very sad piece of news.
nicolaou

Monday, January 21, 2002
'SO, SO SAD'
Small town mourns loss of mother, 4 children in 'Carnage Alley' crash
By JENNIFER MORRISON AND TRACY MCLAUGHLIN, TORONTO SUN
ORILLIA -- Heads were bowed and tears flowed freely yesterday at the Jehovah's Witness Kingdom Hall in Orillia after a local family was wiped out in a "Carnage Alley" accident near Windsor.
Jamie Steinhoff, 25, and her four children were killed instantly Saturday when their family van was rammed from behind by a transport truck on a notorious stretch of Hwy. 401, just east of the border city.
Her husband Robert Steinhoff, 29, is clinging to life at Hotel Dieu Hospital in Windsor, sedated and unaware he has lost his family.
"God, power of the universe, it is like we are on a rollercoaster," elder Markus Keornig said in a tribute to the Steinhoff family of nearby Coldwater. "We are so, so sad ... but we have hope."
As he prayed, the row of the small church where the family always sat together remained empty.
After the service, members talked about the family they were just beginning to know.
"It is so tragic," Sandy Ferguson said. "The little girl, Storm, was just getting to be good friends with my four-year-old granddaughter. They were so cute."
On the path to the Steinhoffs' home, footprints on the snowy sidewalk left a sad reminder of the four dead children.
The couple moved to the small town last fall in search of a fresh start. They brought with them their three children Storm, 4, Seth, who would have turned 3 in March, and Saffron, 21 months. Last month, Robert's son from a previous marriage, eight-year-old Robert Hughes, came to live with them.
CRUSHING VAN
The family left its Coldwater home at 10 p.m. Friday, headed to Amherstburg to visit family. Hans Jauer, another minister with the church in Amherstburg, said Jamie's parents, Jim Kaput and Bev Blain, live in Amherstburg and were looking forward to seeing them.
Jauer said the family probably figured it would be easier travelling on Hwy. 401 through the night. Hours later, their 1990 Plymouth Voyageur was rammed from behind by a transport truck, crushing the van.
Ontario Provincial Police investigators say there is an indication the minivan was travelling at a very slow speed or was stopped when it was struck. A witness told police he drove past the minivan about five minutes before the accident and saw the vehicle parked on the paved shoulder, its emergency lights flashing.
Police said Jamie and Seth were thrown from the van, while the other kids died in their seats. Also killed were at least two of the family's Akita puppies.
The couple celebrated their fifth wedding anniversary on Dec. 17.
"They wanted to get their life in order and they were well on their way to doing that," Jehovah's Witness elder Kevin Morrison said.
He said the Steinhoffs were a tight-knit, loving family that had made some positive changes over the past few months.
"Jamie was a really sweet person. She had a good heart. She was very close to all her children and it was evident in all she did," Morrison said.
"Bobby was really trying to be the best father he could be. He loved his children too," he said.
"He's going to be devastated. He's just lost everything that means anything to him."
"I think they probably have made a bigger impact than they would have guessed or that people may realize," said Colin Bidmead, owner of the Coldwater general store where Jamie worked occasionally.
Next-door neighbour Sharon Saunders said she'd become close to the couple through a shared joy of painting.
'BUBBLY COUPLE'
"They were just a vibrant, bubbly couple. You couldn't help but like them," she said, with tears in her eyes. "And they had dreams. You just don't see that in young people any more."
The stretch of Hwy. 401 where the accident occurred has earned a reputation as being one of Canada's deadliest.
A total of 29 people died on the London-Windsor stretch in 1999, including eight in a fiery 80-vehicle pileup on Sept 3. Ten people died in 2000.
The transport's driver, Kevin McPhail, 36, escaped without injury.
He told police he did not see the Steinhoffs' van, which may have been travelling slowly and without headlights when Steinhoff took it off the gravel shoulder and on to the westbound highway after changing a flat.
think41self

What a sad and senseless tragedy.
I cannot even imagine what that man is going through. Frankly, I don't want to imagine it.
Tracy
SYN
TR

You said it, think. Can't imagine it.
When a couple decide to have children, they rarely think about the daily worry of what might happen to their children.
I worry every day about my wife and kids. Until I get home and see their faces, I am not at ease.
TR
"YK is his name, false prophecy is his game"
thewiz

News like like makes me physically ill. I can't imagine the enormity of this. It's is beyond description.
My hope, is that the father won't make it. Sometimes, it's just better to die. No one should have to live the rest of their life with that kind of torment.
I think it would be a cruel injustice not to tell the father/husband as soon as possible. He could then make an informed decision as to whether he wants to live or die. It would be different if there were any other survivors -he'd have something/someone to live for, but as it is, there aren't any. It would be a great honor in his behalf, if it be his choice, to will himself to die.
There's something different about children. Before they came into this world; that is, before they were given to you to take care of, you thought your life was complete. It's only after you have children when you learn what life is really about; what love is really about; what giving is all about.
There is an altruistic love that ONLY exists between child and parent. Even more so, I think, than God and his creation; the love between God and his creation is based on condition. But love between child and parent is unending and undying. For a woman with children, that goes double.
I hope that God looks down and see's what he has wrought. It's a cruel injustice to prove yourself right.
biblexaminer

It's sad. I was at the funural talk. It was held at the Cleary auditorium on Riverside Dr. W. in Windsor. Lot's of JW's attended.
Interestingly, the father is NOT a JW but goes occasionally to the meeting. He was seen on public television two nights ago, channel 62, appearing on the downtown camera. He was drunk. The whole city saw and heard him thank the city of Windsor in his annebriated state. Then he stumbled away.
Poor guy. But he doesn't seem overly broken up about it. Knowing him and his past, he will have another girl pregnant in short order as was Jamie.
Poor jamie. And that little Seth. Storm was cute.
But Jamie's life was already ruined by the BORG. Her folkes pushed her away from reason and that's why she went out and got pregnant, and then they DF'd her.
She crawled back, poor thing. Only to have this happen. If she had been treated better in the first place, and not had stupid parents, then she wouldn't have had to ruin her life and run away to Coldwater.
And she would not have had to log all those highway miles.
God bless you Jamie.
Beans

I have driven on this Highway,a trucker told me one day when we were waiting for a truck to be pulled off a car with a young girl who had passed in this accident that the highway was so bad because it is dead straight and boaring to drive on and ones concentration is lost not to mention the fog problems.
Beans
mommy

Aww man that is awful I would be inebriated as well I think for quite some time. We had a tragic accident here in the last few days. I actually babysat these kids, and we grew up with their family. I wish I could go to the funeral, my heart just aches for them.
(February 21, 2002) — A young woman died Thursday morning and four people were injured, three seriously, when a pickup and a car collided in Clarkson Wednesday evening. The crash occurred about 5:10 p.m. on Route 104 at the Monroe-Orleans county border.
Alicia Sofia, 21, of Spencerport, who was a passenger in the car, died at 2:09 a.m.
The driver of the car, which was southbound on Monroe-Orleans County Line Road, apparently failed to yield the right of way to the truck, which was eastbound on 104, said Monroe County sheriff's Sgt. Dave Inzana.
Injured in the car were Joshua Payett, 17, of Holley, Orleans County, who was driving; his mother, Irene Payett, 45, of Holley; and Nick Torres, 16, of Rochester. Three of the victims were flown to Strong Memorial Hospital via Mercy Flight Central. All suffered head or internal injuries. They were in guarded condition Thursday morning.
The pickup driver, Paul Marshall, 45, of Elba, Genesee County, suffered minor injuries and was taken to Lakeside Memorial Hospital in Brockport.
Sheriff's deputies are investigating.
My sister said that it looks like the driver who was actually engaged to the young girl who died will not make it as well. I hate to bring it up at a time like this, but I do wonder what a part the no blood policy is playing in all of this. Two of them are still in critical condition, as of yesterday.
wendy
Edited to change the number in critical condition, the mother is out now.
edited again Do you think I should edit out their names? This is a copy of an article on the web now, but what does netiquette say about this? I don't want to cause anymore pain to anyone.

Fatal crash kills wife & four children.

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