UPDATE: Arrest is made in hit and run death of a teen and her step-mom in Otoe County
UPDATE: NEBRASKA CITY, Neb. Otoe County prosecutors will charge an Omaha area man after a deadly crash on Highway 75 near Nebraska City on Sunday. The sheriff’s office says 54 year-old Rickie Anthony was driving an SUV going northbound on 75. He crossed the center line to the southbound lane and slammed into a pickup carrying the Curry family.
32-year-old Rachel Curry died at the scene. Her 15-year-old step daughter passed way at the hospital. Chloe Curry would have turned 16 later this week.
Police say Anthony ran from the scene and they caught him late Sunday night in Falls City. Anthony was booked into the Otoe County detention center on Monday afternoon on charges of leaving the scene of a fatality crash, motor vehicle homicide involving reckless or willful reckless driving, and willful reckless driving.
A candle light vigil will be held tonight and we’ll have a report tonight on Channel 8 Eyewitness News at Ten.
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A two-vehicle crash left two people dead and two others injured in Otoe County.
The Otoe County Attorney’s Office says the crash happened around 7:20 Sunday evening on U.S. Highway 75 near H Road, just west of Nebraska City.
It involved a pick-up truck carrying three people and a Buick with just one occupant.
The pick-up belonged to the Curry family, two of the people inside have now died. Rachel Curry, 32, of Auburn was declared dead at the scene.
Chloe Curry, a sophomore at Johnson County Central in Tecumseh, was transported to CHI Health St. Mary’s in Nebraska City and declared dead at 8:47 p.m.
Curry would have turned 16 on Wednesday.
The school was notified and has grief counseling available for its students for at least the next two days,” said Galen Boldt, Superintendent of Johnson County Central Schools.
“We have so many heavy hearts today, simply because the impact Chloe made on students and staff- she was in FBLA, an active student leader, heavily involved in music activities, and all around great kid,” Boldt said. “She lit up the room wherever she was.”
The driver, Michael Curry, age 39 also of Auburn, survived the crash. A friend of the family said he is at home now, but is in need of support.
The Auburn community is collecting donations. You can drop them off at Bowldog Bowling Alley or Merz Ink, both are located in Auburn. Friends have also started a gofundme page that’s already beat its fundraising goal: https://www.gofundme.com/fjatq8-curry-family
The crash is still being investigated. The driver of the Buick that crashed into the Curry family’s pick-up truck fled from the scene.
It took a K-9 officer and the Nebraska State Patrol’s helicopter to find the suspected driver. They were located in Falls City late Sunday and have been taken to the Otoe County Jail while the crash is being investigated. Officials have not named the suspect.
(Photo Courtesy of News Channel Nebraska)
