Wewahitchka woman dies in Washington County crash
A late afternoon accident left a Wewahitchka woman dead and a Tennessee man in serious condition.
At around 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 3, a 64-year-old Wewahitchka woman was driving her blue 2002 Ford Explorer northbound on Highway 79 when for unknown reasons the vehicle veered left into the southbound lane as a white 1999 Ford Expedition, driven by a 52-year-old man from Goodlettsville, TN. was traveling southbound.
The man took evasive actions to avoid a collision but was unsuccessful causing the left front of the Explorer to collide with right front corner of the Expedition.
The Explorer rotated clockwise until it came to final rest in the northbound lane of Highway 79, facing northeast. The Expedition rotated counterclockwise until it came to final rest in the northbound lane of Highway 79, facing southeast. The driver of the Explorer was pronounced dead at the scene. Both drivers were wearing seatbelts.
Meet the Editor
Wendy Weitzel, The Star’s digital editor, joined the news outlet in August 2021, as a reporter covering primarily Gulf County.
Prior to then, she interned for Oklahoma-based news wire service Gaylord News and for Oklahoma City-based online newspaper NonDoc.com during her four years at the University of Oklahoma, from which she graduated in May with degrees in online journalism and political science.
While at OU, Weitzel was selected as Carnegie-Knight News21 Investigative Fellow among 30 top journalism students from around the country. She also was senior editor managing a 12-person newsroom in coordination with Oklahoma Watch, a non-profit news organization in eastern Oklahoma.