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Subscribe to RSSJACKSON, Miss. -- Five young siblings and one adult died early Saturday when a sport utility vehicle went off an eastern Mississippi road and plunged into a rain-swollen creek, authorities said.
Neshoba County Sheriff Tommy Waddell said the victims appear to have drowned after their Dodge Durango left a county road 20 miles southeast of Philadelphia just after midnight Saturday.
Deputy County Coroner Marshall Prince identified the five children who died as Dasyanna John, 9; Duane John, 8; Bobby John, 7; Quinton John, 4; and 18-month-old Kekaimeas John. Family friend Diane Chickaway, 37, also died. The sheriff said all were members of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and lived in the Pearl River community east of Philadelphia, where the tribe operates a large casino complex.
The father of the children, Dewayne John, escaped the vehicle and remains hospitalized for hypothermia and water inhalation. The children's mother, Deanna Jim, and Chickaway's husband, Dale Chickaway, also survived. The group was traveling to Conehatta, another Choctaw community, with Dewayne John driving. Waddell said he has been tested to see if he was under the influence of alcohol, though he said official results aren't in. If officials decide to file charges, Waddell said they probably wouldn't act until Wednesday.
It appears none of the nine occupants of the vehicle were wearing seat belts or were in child restraints, the sheriff said.
"It's always sad to hear of the death of a tribal member, but today our tribe experienced a great tragedy with the loss of six beautiful Choctaw souls. I cannot begin to imagine what the friends, relatives and loved ones are feeling," Tribal Chief Phyliss J. Anderson said in a statement. "There are no words that can express our sincere condolences to such a horrific accident. I join many of you in the outpouring display of love and support shown to the families during this difficult time. Our thoughts and prayers are with them."
The crash happened on County Road 107, in a rural area near the Neshoba-Newton county line. Heavy rains have deluged the area in recent days, raising the water level of what Waddell described as a normally small creek. The SUV ran off the left side of the road into the creek near the Kitchner community.
The sheriff said it wasn't raining and there was no ice on the road. "This accident is not weather related at all," he said.
Divers from the Philadelphia fire department had to be called to find the submerged vehicle. Prince said the vehicle was pulled from the water after 3 a.m. In addition to the 30 emergency workers, about 20 Choctaw tribal members gathered at the site, he said.
"It looked like he has just run off the road and went into the water," Prince said. "It was deep and swift. The vehicle was completely submerged."
Waddell said the bodies have been sent to Jackson for autopsies. The Mississippi Highway Patrol will reconstruct the accident starting Sunday to learn more.
Tribal spokeswoman Misty Dreifuss said funeral arrangements would likely be made Sunday. She said the children are expected to be buried together. Dreifuss said word of the deaths spread quickly through the 10,000-member tribe and that members "definitely have been hit pretty hard."
Waddell said that he can't recall a deadlier accident in the county in his 26 years of law enforcement.
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Leave a Comment:
sad
Yes this is a tragic story but wht does the headline have SUV emblazened as part of the topic? Is this somehow an EVIL SUV that caused this accident? They are EVIL you know, those SUVssssssss.
Because the government controlled news media wants to vilify SUV's so they will be banned. I just hope it's not too late for Washington DC to save us from ourselves.
Because SUV is an acronym. And acronyms are generally capitolized.
Jerry, don't expect D.C. to save you. They've bought and paid for you, with your own money might I add.
Why did the article mention that the tribe has a casino? I don't think that the casino had anything to do with the article.
Such a tragic event on the anniversary of the Wounded Knee Massacre of 29 December 1890. Heaven has to make room for so many more angels.
It’s unfortunate that we live in a world where so many people--with outrageous comments--disrespect the grieving moments for those who lost their lives, especially for the little ones.
Ban SUV's before it's to late !!
Did anybody else have the intelligence to notice the headline.....5 kids, 1 adult die when "SUV" goes off road into creek....You see the liberal media wants you to think that It was the evil SUV that purposely drove those 6 people to their deaths and not the driver of the vehicle. Because in their minds this tragedy would have NEVER happened if the family would have been driving a fuel efficient small economy car, epically a Prius. They never purposely drive off into a creek in order to kill their occupants. Its always one of those ozone depleting, gas guzzling and massive carbon foot print evil SUV's that is responsible, and not the driver.
Again, SUV is always capitalized because it is an acronym. The 'liberal media' in this case is being grammatically correct. Let's say for a moment that this story came across in 'nonliberal media' (if that's what the opposite would be), how would the title be different?
"Vehicle" (from Latin: vehiculum) a mobile machine that is designed or used to transport passengers or cargo. And that's how the title would be different.
Alright, so if they had said 'vehicle', then there would be a mass amount of commentary on what kind of vehicle it was, and how many people could fit into said vehicles. That has already happened on this thread. Furthermore, althought that may be what YOU think when you read that title, that's not what I think. Actually, you and only one other person on this thread have seemed to think that thus far. So, maybe the 'liberal media' brainwashing that is happening is not as big of a deal as you think? Just a thought.
Also, thank you so much for the latin lesson.
Actually, as an acronym, it should have been S.U.V., but don't expect people who make their living from the language to get it right.
http://journalistsresource.org/reference/style/acronyms
The writers just wanted to see how many jack asses said "ban SUV's now" btw, where i'm at, a vast majority of SUV drivers are pricks. I'll be cruising along at 45-50 mph (within the speed limit) and they'll pull out in front of me and go slow, forcing me to slam on my breaks. I think it's this mentality that you're bigger than everyone else so @!$%# 'em. Not that it's pertinent to the story, but I wanted to vent my hatred of SUV drivers. They're probably all republicans. ass holes.
sorry to hear about this. please do not let obom know. hell next thing you know we will ban cars and go back to horses and buggies
The Male Driver of this Vehicle Should be taken away from the hospital and put in Prison, skipping the trial ... since we both know The Father is Guilty of Stupidity and the fact NO SEAT BELTS WERE USED. Did he do this purposely to get rid of his family?
Hey the best thing you need to do is shut up I knew these people and they where good people.
Ban SUV's
This is a very sad event. Our prayers are with the victims and family members.
Now we need to get Washington to BAN SUVs and Swollen Creeks, so the rest of us can be safe!!!
Did you make the same kind of joke when all of the children died at Sandy Hook?
Somehow I don't really feel the sincerity behind your "prayers" when you make a joke out of the tragedy immediately after. call me crazy...
Or put up a guard rail?
Those "beautiful Choctaw souls" should have been wearing seat belts. And the driver shouldn't have been drinking.
How do you know the driver was drinking?
How do you know that someone didn't happen to drive by and cut them off, and they lost control of the vehicle?
How do you know they didn't swerve to avoid hitting an animal?
How do you know they didn't ge ta flat tire?
This article is way to vague about the incident to assume that.
how do you know that they where drinking
I live here in philadelphia ms I was working in my store on main street when they came in friday. they bought colthes for the kids. they where nice people they came in all the time.
We need to ban SUV's. This is a horrible tragedy.
We all seen it was an suv that drove its self and killed these people.So we need to outlaw them now.For you freedom grabers it was an accident but the suv's must go to stop this in the future.
oh kids died!?! we have to start the ban on all suv's!!! someone get a congressmen on the phone right away!!!!! dont need an suv to get place to place! thats what a car is for!
Oh no kids died?!?! We have to start banning SUV's immediately, hurry someone get a congressmen on the phone!!!
I think we should seriously think about banning SUV's, or at least take away the freedom of driving a vehicle all together. The pursuit of happiness and security shouldn't require the use of freedom. We could require people to pass mental health checks, and pre-screenings to ensure the perfect driver. There's no reason why we can't have a 100% incident free society.
Seriously, what do you people think you're gaining with the "ban SUVs" posts?
You just look insensitive and opportunistic. It's not witty, it's not funny, and honestly it's disrespectful. How would you feel if these were your family members? How would you feel if something trajic liks this happened in your life and all you heard were jokes about it? It's one thing to have an opinion, but it's another to be snide.
I seriously think the moderator of this thread should come in and close the whole thing down. It's been awhile since I read this kind of stuff and it's been awhile since I've seen such a bunch of insensitive idiots all posting such garbage in one place. You should all be ashamed of yourselves. Bunch of trolls with assumptions that mean nothing throwing all of your personal prejudices around. Who cares about you...this is about a car that went off the road with many people in it who got killed. Try keeping the conversation to that why don't you all. What a bunch of self-centered compassionless idiots. My thoughts and prayers are with the families of all those who died.
I want to tell everyone involved with this tragic accident that they have my prayers and condolences. It will be days before it will be known what really caused this to happen. There are many things that could have played a role. I am NOT judge or jury, so I will NOT speculate on any theory as to what may have took place. What I do know is that there have been many heartless comments made on here, for some unknown reason about this accident.
Very curious to hear more about this. Did he fall asleep? Was he avoiding an animal on the road? So it wasn't weather-related. Something caused the accident...
Why the hell were there NINE people in one Dodge Durango????!!!!!
They weren't even Hispanic.
"The crash happened on County Road 107, in a rural area near the Neshoba-Newton county line." Weird how the massacre of Sandy School has something to do with Newton. Rest in peace to those of sandy school and to the ones of this accident.
Wow, what were the odds....................?
Amazing how every story revolves around guns and politics today.
No one knows all the facts. He could have been drunk, the drive axel might have broke and he may just have been distracted. Whatever the case the children died.
As soon as all the facts come in then we will all know for sure.
What a horrible tragedy, my sympathy to the family and friends. RIP little ones.
Tellbabby............you are missing the point. This "so-called story" is purposely written to INCLUDE the obvious "liberal speak".......... AND LIBERAL AGENDA.......exactly like Sandy Hook is seen as an opportunity to advance removal of the 2nd Amendment from the Constitution..................."never let a CRISIS go unused" as a reason to ADVANCE LIBERAL AGENDA.
The liberal media cannot resist use this tragedy to advance liberal agenda. To BAN SUV's or atleast attempt to further VILIFY the "gas guzzling dinosaur".
Look at ANY liberal media outlet that prints or "mouth's" a story about a car accident, and THESE PEOPLE cannot help but include the TYPE of vehicle driven..........BUT ONLY IF IT IS A SUV.
Millions of auto accidents happen across this Nation annually and NOT ONE story, reported by the liberal media......EVER....starts out with a Prius or a Chevy Volt (or any vehicle popular with the Berkinstock wearing "greenie" crowd, though I am sure it has happened).............. BUT NO!!!!
When involved, THE EVIL SUV gets prominent mention in the "story", almost "as if" the SUV was "driver-less" and mowing down hapless humans,................... like a possessed "evil Christine".
I am almost willing to bet, if the vehicle involved in this tragedy was NOT a SUV, it would not have been reported.
Wow! Thank you for words of wisdom BP spokesman. I never knew when you signed the papers to
purchase a car you had to tell them your political affiliation or beliefs. I always thought people bought cars to meet their needs. If you drive 50 miles a day and are a single driver it is basic economics to get the best gas mileage possible. When you have children you have to get the most amount of space in a vehicle. I own 2 SUVS because I like more space in my cars. I have no political agenda or party.
If I had to drive many miles I might get a smaller car to do it.
Maybe if the big car companies had more foresight they would not have had to get the government to bail them out.
Can you please give me more than this example of where the liberal media has tried to ban SUVs by using that title in a story? If they wrote a story about SUVs before the Sandy Hook tragedy, was that your first thought? No. That's the point.
Not everyone thinks that way. And how can you make an assumption that it would not have been reported? Maybe it's been reported because it was a Native American tribe and children died. Maybe it was reported because the circumstances are questionable. Are you honestly trying to tell me that you have such little faith in human beings as intelligent individuals that you have to blame the media for writing an article in a subtle manner to ban SUVs? That's an insult in my opinion. Am I brainwashed too, because I read the article? I don't think SUVs need to be banned. I live in an area where you need 4-wheel drive in order to drive 2 miles form your home. You can't get that with a sedan, now can you? I won't resort to name-calling, but seriously, it's getting old. First and foremost, you people that are stuck on this idea that this article is about banning any sort of vehicle are completely missing the point that 5 CHILDREN DIED. This is not an agenda, it's a tragedy. I'm guessing this article is calling for a ban on Charter Busses as well?
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/30/16254077-5-killed-at-least-20-injured-when-charter-bus-plunges-off-icy-oregon-highway
We should probably ban charter busses and icy highways as well, right?
STOP. People are blaming this gun ban thing on other people who they think are blaming guns instead of the person for what happened. You're no better blaming the media. What you think is what you think, stop asting as if the rest of the world should only think the way that you do.