6 Victims In Deadly Fort Worth Pileup Involving 130+ Vehicles Identified
FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) — At least 6 people were killed and some 65 injured on the morning of Feb. 11 when more than a hundred cars, trucks, and semi tractor-trailers slipped, slid and crashed on an icy section of Interstate-35W. As of Saturday, Feb. 13, all six victims who died have been identified.
Friday morning the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office identified 54-year-old William Williams, 49-year-old Christopher Vardy of Boyd and Justin resident 47-year-old Michael Wells as three men who all perished in the Interstate-35W pileup.
Thursday afternoon CBS 11 News learned Aaron Watson, of Fort Worth, also died in the crash. Family friend Sara Suttle said friends and family knew something was wrong when a location app on Watson's phone showed that he'd been sitting on I-35W for hours.
While the crash happened around 6:30 a.m., Suttle said it wasn't until the afternoon that they learned Watson had been killed.
Watson was married and now his wife, Jane, is just trying to hold on. "She [Watson's wife] said, 'Aaron's usually the strong one' and she gets to fall apart," Suttle recalled. "And you know she's got their two kids and she cannot fall apart. Ya know, she has to be strong for them."
Suttle describes Watson as a good family man, great husband and father, and overall good person.
Overnight Thursday CBS 11 News learned the name of a woman who perished in the crash.
Fort Worth police and the Tarrant County Medical Office identified 34-year old Tiffany Louann Gerred of Northlake as a victim. Her time of death is listed at 6:13 a.m. so she is believed to have died at the scene.
On Saturday, Feb. 13, the sixth victim who died was identified by the medical examiner as 46-year-old Tamara Mendoza Querales.
Drivers blame icy conditions in the express lanes on the bridge near 28th Street for the 133-car pileup. Of the 65 injured in the pileup more than 35 were taken from the scene in ambulances and many remained hospitalized on Friday.
Remnants of the crash were on the highway for more than 24 hours. I wasn't until rush hour Friday morning when all southbound lanes on the freeway were opened. The TEXPress toll lane section from Loop 820 to Northside Drive remains shutdown.
