Dump Truck Tragedy: NTSB Investigates Crash That Killed Four Linemen | Crime Alert 2PM 04.28.25

The National Transportation Safety Board opens a federal investigation after a city dump truck in Eden, North Carolina kills four powerline workers and injures three others. Police in Georgia arrest two family members after three nonverbal autistic children are found home alone without care. Drew Nelson reports.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Crime Alart hourly update, breaking crime news Now.

Speaker 2 (00:03):
I'm Drew Nelson. The National Transportation Safety Board opens a
federal investigation after a city dump truck and eden, North
Carolina kills four power line workers and injures three others.
Officials say Michael Ray Vernon, aged sixty six, drove a
city owned dump truck through a stop sign at Carroll
and Church Streets. He struck six Carolina Power and Signalization

(00:25):
workers before hitting a bucket truck with another man inside,
and then crashing into a ditch. The four men killed
are Douglas Garland Sides seventy two, Madison Carter thirty two,
William Evans thirty five, and Matthew Lockwood thirty two. Others
Hunter Carter twenty four and Kevin Alexander thirty four were
airlifted with life threatening injuries. Cody Rich, who was in

(00:47):
the bucket truck, was hospitalized with non life threatening injuries.
The driver, Vernon, was treated for minor injuries and charged
with a stop sign violation and misdemeanor death by motor vehicle.
Troopers say they do not believe in any drug alcohol
impairment was a factor. The GoFundMe for Lockwood's family has
raised nearly thirteen thousand dollars. If it's sixteen thousand dollars goal.

(01:09):
Here's Lockwood's friend Robert Russell on WGHP.

Speaker 3 (01:12):
Maddie was the type of person that if you had
twenty people who were on a camping trip, everyone would
argue about who gets to camp with Maddie, who gets
to row with Maddie on the canoe.

Speaker 1 (01:21):
You just always felt fulfilled with him.

Speaker 2 (01:23):
Witness Zakia Lo told the TV station she saw the
whole thing unfold.

Speaker 3 (01:28):
God found out later that the man in the truck
got up and they found him sitting there as an
abandoned house.

Speaker 2 (01:35):
The city of Eden stated that it is operating with
quote a heavy heart. Duke Energy, Carolina Power, and Victory
Power Line Services all release statements offering prayers for the families.
Carolina Power said the workers quote were fathers, sons, husbands
and friends who committed their lives to serving others. Victory
Power Line Services honor Douglas Sides as a quote dedicated

(01:56):
employee who loved his work his entire career. City officials
placed Vernon on administrative leave. Eden Mayor nibble Hall addressed
the crash at a news conference.

Speaker 3 (02:06):
The North Carolina State Highway Patrols investigating the incident and
no further statements will be forthcoming at this time. Our
thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and their
families of this terrible incident, and I'd like to thank
the first responders for the job that they did.

Speaker 2 (02:20):
I memorial on the road side now marks the crash site. Flags,
hard hats, and flowers have been put there in honor
of the fallen workers. Governor Josh Stein issued a statement
urging safer roadways, calling the losses tragic. Rockingham County officials
also extended condolences for the victims' families and thanked first responders.
The NTSB investigation continues. More crime and justice news after this.

(02:51):
Police in Georgia arrest two family members after three autistic
children are found home alone. Officers in Albany responded to
a call about a child standing alone in the roadway.
It was about eight pm when police reached the eighteen
hundred block of West Broad Avenue. They found the three children,
in ages eight, four and nine, one outside two inside
a nearby home. All three children are nonverbal. They had

(03:14):
been left without any adult supervision and could not call
for help. An officer say they are under a strict
care plan. While police were at the scene, the child's mother,
twenty five year old Emia Elder, and their grandfather, sixty
six year old Kenneth Elder, came home. Investigators determined the
children had been left alone for an extended time, but
couldn't say how long. Both Emya Elder and Kenneth Elder

(03:35):
were arrested, charged with three counts of reckless conduct. Police
said none of the children were physically harmed. Kristin Motaferry
was last seen June twenty third of nineteen ninety seven.
She had just finished a shift at Spinelli's Coffee shop
at the Crocker Galleria in San Francisco, California. She told
coworkers she might visit Baker Beach. About forty five minutes later,

(03:56):
she was seen on the second floor of the building
with a blond woman who has never and found. Surveillance
footage caught Kristin withdrawing money from an ATM. She left
behind a four hundred dollars paycheck at her job. Kristin
failed to show up for her photography class the next
day at UC Berkeley. She also did not return home
to the house she shared with four male roommates in Oakland.
Days later, when her father left a message on the

(04:18):
house phone, a roommate called back and said they hadn't
seen or heard from Kristen since June twenty third. Her
parents arrived in San Francisco on June twenty seventh and
reported her missing. Police began searching. On June thirtieth. Bloodhounds
tracked Kristin, sent to a public bus and then to
Sutro Heights Park near the ocean. Her trail ended at
the shoreline. When her belongings were checked. A personal ad

(04:39):
seeking friends was found, but it's unclear if Kristin placed
the ad or replied to it. In later years, police
also looked at Robert Durst, who was suspected in other disappearances,
but he was ruled out in twenty fifteen, and cadaverdog
alerted the possible human remains at Kristin's old house. In
twenty seventeen, a forensic anthropologist used the device that detected

(05:00):
decomposition chemicals between the house kristen Stadion and the one
next door. Soil samples showed a match to Kristen's family DNA.
Despite this no excavation has taken place. Kristin was eighteen
when she disappeared. She'd be forty five today five six
one forty, dark brown hair, brown eyes and dimples. She
was white. Last seen wearing a black Spinelli's shirt, a

(05:23):
blue plaid flannel shirt, tan pants, and Fly London sneakers.
She had a green JanSport backpack. If you have any information,
contact the Oakland Police Department at five one Oho two
three eight thirty six forty one. For the latest crime
and justice news, Follow Crime Alert hourly update on your
favorite podcast app with this crime Alert. I'm Drew Nelson.

Speaker 1 (05:49):
How could a beautiful, young first grade teacher be stabbed
twenty times, including in the back, allegedly die of suicide? Yes,
that was the medical examiner's official ruling after a closed
door meeting. He first named it a homicide. Why what
Happened to Ellen Greenberg a huge American miscarriage of justice.

(06:15):
For an in depth look at the facts, see What
Happened to Ellen on Amazon. All proceeds to the National
Center for Missing and Exploited Children.