THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, May 1, 1996 TAG: 9605010393
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY CATHERINE KOZAK AND ANNE SAITA, STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: EDENTON LENGTH: Short : 48 lines
Three members of an Edenton family were killed and two others were injured Tuesday morning when their car went off the road and slammed into a culvert, less than five miles from their homes. The family was returning from a trip to Utah.
Watson Earl White, 74, the driver; Robert L. Bass, 47, White's son-in-law; and Brenda W. Bass, 47, White's daughter, were killed after White apparently fell asleep and the car struck the concrete ditch culvert on N.C. 32 in Chowan County 14.7 miles north of Edenton, state troopers said.
White and Brenda Bass died at the scene, officials said. Robert Bass died on the way to Chowan Hospital.
Injured in the 7:56 a.m. crash were the Bass' son, John Watson Bass, 18, and White's wife, Ruth Perry White, 73.
Ruth White was in stable condition Tuesday afternoon in Chowan Hospital, a hospital spokesperson said. Bass, who was the front-seat passenger, was treated for minor injuries and released.
The family lived in two houses less than 200 yards apart on Paradise Road in Edenton.
State police said the 1993 Buick Century was destroyed in the crash.
Investigating officer Trooper Jeffrey Archer at State Police Headquarters in Elizabeth City said there was no evidence that White was speeding. He said the vehicle did not overturn and no skid marks were evident at the scene.
Archer said the family was in Utah attending the graduation of another of White's grandsons. They had left Utah early Sunday morning, Archer said.
The victims were the immediate family of Nell Long of Currituck, wife of State Trooper Willie M. Long, Archer said. ILLUSTRATION: CONDITION OF INJURED
Ruth White was in stable condition Tuesday afternoon in Chowan
Hospital, a hospital spokesperson said. Bass, who was the front-seat
passenger, was treated for minor injuries and released.
John Watson Bass, who was the front-seat passenger, was treated for
minor injuries and released.
KEYWORDS: ACCIDENT AUTOMOBILE FATALTIES by CNB