I-95 crash devastates Maggie Valley family
Four of the five people killed Tuesday in a pileup on Interstate 95 near Lumberton were members of a Maggie Valley family.
Greg and Marla Larson said Friday their daughter, son-in-law and two grandchildren died in the wreck.
A preliminary investigation showed that all the vehicles were approaching a work zone on southbound on I-95, a news release from Highway Patrol said.
According to the release, a tractor-trailer/tanker, driven by Michael Elliott Bricker, 68, of Myrtle Beach, was approaching the slowing traffic as he entered the work zone but did not stop, causing a chain-reaction crash.
Elise Larson Spennati, Cole Spennati, Gianna Spennati and Aila Spennati, all of Goose Creek, were in a truck that was hit by the tractor-trailer/tanker. Their truck was pushed into the rear of an SUV, which hit another vehicle.
This has been a devastating week for my family,” Marla Larson said in an email.
Larson said her daughter Elise was a U.S. Navy veteran. Elise’s husband Cole was still active duty Navy and due to transfer to San Diego in August, where she said her daughter planned to attend San Diego State University and complete her nursing degree.
“Elise was a wonderful and dedicated mother. Her priorities were nurturing her children and having a close-knit family. She and her husband were coming home from a visit in Pennsylvania with Cole’s family when the tragedy occurred. They were returning to their Navy Base in Goosecreek, South Carolina,” Larson said.
She said 4-year-old Aila loved the mountains and loved visiting her grandparents and uncle in Maggie Valley. Larson said Aila also loved to sing songs she learned in daycare.
Gianna, who was 1 1/2 years old, was learning to walk and just getting into that inquisitive stage of “what’s that,” Larson said.
Elise is survived by her parents, Greg and Marla Larson, and her brother Dayne Larson.
