ROANOKE TIMES 

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, November 21, 1993                   TAG: 9311210159
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WINCHESTER                                LENGTH: Short

HEAD-ON WRECK KILLS 5

A speeding car struck a guardrail and a bridge before crossing into the oncoming lane and crashing head-on with a pickup truck, killing five people early Saturday, state police said.

There were no survivors in the wreck on U.S. 522 south of Winchester, state police spokeswoman Lucy Caldwell said.

In the car were: driver Michael D. Cooper, 22, of Front Royal; Tina Varda, 21, of Winchester; Jennifer Wines, 19, of Chester Gap, and David Shephard, 23, of Front Royal. The driver of the pickup was Roger L. McKee, 41, of White Post.

"The road curves to the right, but the vehicle went straight and struck the guardrail and the bridge on the left," Caldwell said. "The vehicle continued southbound in the northbound lane for about 200 feet" before hitting McKee's truck.

Both vehicles caught fire, but it is not yet known where the fire started, Caldwell said.

According to relatives and friends, McKee was going hunting, while Cooper and his friends were returning from a nightclub in West Virginia, Caldwell said.

It was not yet known whether alcohol was a factor in the crash.

Keywords:
FATALITY 


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