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Bethany Welch of Palmyra was in the passenger seat of a sedan involved in the crash with a commercial van and a tractor-trailer, the coroner announced the following afternoon.
The deadly head-on collision happened on West 28th Division Highway (SR322) near the Lancaster and Lebanon County line just before 2:22 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 22, the NLCRPD detailed in a release.
The Brickerville Fire Company, EMS,The Lancaster County Crash Team, and the Lancaster County Coroner's Office all were called to the crash scene in Penn Township.
New details from police explain that Gavin M. Kline of Palmyra was the driver of the 2016 Kia Optima and Welch was riding in the front passenger seat. When Kline attempted to pass a tractor-trailer on the left "he failed to recognize and or negotiate oncoming traffic," police stated in an updated release. He struck a 2022 Ford Transit van, driven by Matthew Carl of Shillington, head-on.
Welch was Kline's mother, the police explained. She was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash.
Welch's accidental death was caused by multiple traumatic injuries from the crash, the coroner explained following an autopsy.
Kline and Carl sustained non-life-threatening injuries and were taken by EMS to area hospitals.
"Evidence suggested that KLINE may have been under the influence of drugs at the time of the crash," the police stated in the updated release.
NLCRPD accident reconstruction team assisted by the Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office, will be leading the ongoing investigation.
"The investigation is ongoing and final outcomes, conclusions, and or associated charges are pending," the police said, added that "the NLCRPD extends its deepest sympathies to the families affected by this tragedy."
Anyone with information is asked to call NLCRPD at (717)733-0965 or Lancaster County Crime Stoppers at (800) 322-1913.
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