LUMBERTON, NC : Crash kills 2 teens on Monday, February 6th 2017

Lumberton police believe alcohol might have contributed to an accident that killed two Wilmington teenagers on Monday morning, one a student at UNC-Charlotte and the other her boyfriend.

The driver of a vehicle that stuck the teenagers’ vehicles while traveling in the wrong direction on U.S. 74 suffered serious injuries and is fighting for his life, according to information provided by police Capt. Terry Parker.

Parker said that Dana Michelle Wilson, 18, of the 200 block of Bluff Circle, Wilmington, and Ryan Michael Menke, also 18, of the 100 block of Mendenhall Drive in Wilmington, were driving a 2005 Ford Focus west on U.S. 74 near N.C. 41 when their vehicle was hit head-on by a 1989 Oldsmobile being driven by Broderick Jones, 38, of the 100 block of Spruce Street, Proctorville.Jones was taken to Southeastern Regional Medical Center in Lumberton and later was flown to another hospital for further treatment. His condition was not available. The accident, which occurred shortly before 1 a.m. Monday, destroyed both vehicles.

The Lumberton Police Department is asking anyone who might have information concerning the accident to call Officer Cedrique Bridges at 910-671-3845.

Allie Williams, a friend of the two teenagers who were killed, told WBTC she attended Laney High School in Wilmington with Wilson and Menke. She said Wilson had recently started school at UNCC and was interested in becoming a nurse, like her mother.

“She always had a smile on her face. She was super bubbly,” Williams said. She described Menke as being very kind.

WECT in Wilmington quoted a New Hanover County schools spokesman as saying Wilson and Menke were former Laney High School students who graduated in 2016.

In an unrelated road fatality, Hurricane Matthew can claim another fatality after a 75-year-old man died last week when he drove his moped past a barrier and crashed it on a roadway that was washed out by the storm, according to the state Highway Patrol.

According to a report by Trooper M.J. Miles, Linda Harold Lowery, of Shannon Road, Lumberton, was driving west on Secondary Road 1758 at about 9:54 p.m. on Wednesday when he drove around the barrier and his vehicle hit a pipe and he was thrown from it.

The deadly accident happened near Rennert.

Editor Donnie Douglas can be reached at 910-416-5649. T.C. Hunter contributed to this report. He can be reached at 910-816-1974.

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Crash kills 2 teens