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Rachel S. Gaddis— known by her derby name Blackout Betty or just Betty by her friends— of Spring Mills was ejected from the 2023 Yamaha Wolverine RMAX2 1000 on Stewart Hill Road just south of Old Township road around 4 a.m. on Saturday, according to PSP.
Preston C. Gaddis, also 38 of Spring Mills was driving the UTV south with Betty "straddling the center console" and Samuel G. Hoy III, 42, of Mill Hall in the passenger seat— when he left the roadway for an unknown reason exiting the roadway heading west and striking a tree, the police detailed in the release.
The UTV didn't stop, instead it continued down a "steep embankment," striking a second tree, and overturning— landing on it's roof— ejecting Hoy and partially ejecting Betty, pinning her under the vehicle cage, the police explained.
Betty was pronounced dead at the scene by Clinton County Coroner Eric Knauff.
Hoy and the other Gaddis were transported were serious injuries, PSP explained.
Preston Gaddis could be charged for driving under the influence of a controlled substance pending the results of the State Police investigation, according to the release.
Rachel "Blackout Betty" Gaddis was a 2008 graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute where she earned her Bachelor's of Art in Architecture. She studied abroad in Rome, Italy in 2005, and was making friends in the Rugby club by 2006, according to her LinkedIn. Since then, she's traveled in the US and Europe, holding various architecture jobs, running races, tubing, caring for chickens, and volunteering with the Special Olympics, Girl Scouts, Eagle Scouts, and at PSU, according to her social media and post by her friends.
Betty as she was known in the derby community, was a founding member of SCAR derby in 2010, and league coach since 2016, according to State College Area Roller Derby. "She was an absolute force and roller derby was her biggest passion (besides her chickens, and tubing, and rugby, and celebrating people). Her legacy is not just the league she helmed for the past decade, but the countless number of people she molded into the players they are today," the organization shared on Facebook on Monday.
Tributes are being shared on social media with the tag #scardforlife to honor her memory.
All of the posts are echoing the same sentiment, rest in peace Blackout Betty:
Funeral and memorial service details have yet to be released.
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