Mother And Daughter Killed In W. Va. Auto Crash

    Edna E. Eash Nofziger, 90, Pettisville, and her daughter, Mary Ellen Kempf, 68, Fayette, died Thursday afternoon, April 17, in an auto mishap near Hedgesville, W. Va.
    Robert Grove, a deputy with the Berkeley County (W. Va.) Sheriff Department, said the driver of the other vehicle involved in the crash, Darrell Russ Jr., 28, Hedgesville, was placed under arrest on a charge of DUI with death. He was taken to the Eastern Regional Jail, Martinsburg, W. Va., where he was being held as of Monday.
    Nofziger and Kempf were passengers in a car driven by Sanford Eash, 72, Wauseon. A fourth occupant of the Eash auto was Linda Eash, 60, wife of Sanford Eash. Sanford Eash and Mary Ellen Kempf are two of Nofziger's children.
    A press release from the Berkeley County Sheriff Department states the Eash auto was traveling east, while a minivan, driven by Russ, with passenger Crystal Gilbert, 25, who has the same Hedgesville address as Russ, was traveling west.
    The press release states the minivan crossed the centerline, driving into the path of Eash auto. The two collided head on.
    Nofziger and Kempf were pronounced dead at the scene; their bodies were taken to a local funeral home.
    As of Monday, Sanford Eash was a patient in the intensive care unit of City Hospital, Martinsburg. He was listed is serious condition.
    Information about the others involved in the crash was not available from City Hospital spokesmen.
    Grove described the area where the crash occurred as a busy, heavily-traveled roadway, but it is not in an urban area.–David Pugh. Posted 4.13, 10:12 p.m.