Authorities have released the names of the victims of a multi-vehicle collision on a Florida highway, with five children among the seven dead.
Two truck drivers and five adolescents were involved in the tragic Jan. 3 accident while traveling to Disney World on a church-sponsored trip. The victims were killed when a semi-trailer swerved into a car, then smashed through the center barrier to slam into the van carrying the children.
The Florida Highway Patrol identified the children as Joel Cloud and Jeremiah Warren, both 14; Cara Descant, 13; Brieana Descant, 10; and Cierra Bordelan, 9.
The two truck drivers were also killed: Douglas Bolkema, 49, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Steve Holland, 59, of West Palm Beach, Florida.
The other four children and two of the three adults who were on the van were seriously injured, as was the driver of the car. One of the injured women was pregnant.
The injured parties have been identified as Amy Joffiron, 45, of Mansura, Louisiana, who was driving the church van; Karen Descant, 50, wife of the church pastor; Ali Laborde, 30, Noah Joffiron, 14, and Chelsea Laborde, 11, of Marksville; Trinity Woodward, 9, and Chance Bernard, 9, of Hessmer, Louisiana; and Robyn Rattray, 41, of Gainesville, who was driving the car which was the first vehicle hit.
“Sister Karen Descant has seven broken ribs, a broken collarbone, multiple bruises, cuts, etc. Pastor Descant’s words were, ‘She is pretty banged up. One of the ladies was pregnant, but we are told the baby is going to be all right. She too is pretty banged up.’
“The other lady is not as severely injured, but is still in the hospital. The four children all have injuries, but the medical staff feel that all of them will heal and recover.”
Trucker Lost Control
Investigators have yet to determine the cause of the accident which occurred around 3:30 p.m. on Jan 3. on a straight, flat section of Interstate 75 near Gainesville.Both vehicles smashed through the guardrails dividing the north- and southbound sides of the Interstate. Holland truck then rammed the van driven by Amy Joffrion, causing it to flip several times.
Several of the children were thrown out of the van and onto the highway, where another car ran over at least one of them.
Holland’s truck then struck the semi-trailer driven by Douglas Bolkema.
Both trucks and Rattray’s car burst into flames.
Steve Holland has a history of traffic violations. Fox reported that he had received numerous citations between 2000 and 2014 in Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Virginia for violations such as speeding, driving an unsafe vehicle, driving an overloaded vehicle and not carrying proof of insurance.
Douglas Bolkema had been cited once in 1997 for following too closely.
Tragedy for a Small Town
Marksville Mayor John Lemoine told the Gainesville Sun that the crash had caused turmoil throughout the tight-knit community around the church.“We are a small community with 6,500 people in town, and most everybody knows everybody else. It’s affected everybody. That is what’s so terrible about this,” Lemoine said.
“You have a horrible accident with kids going to Disney to enjoy themselves and this happens. It’s just beyond belief. It just hasn’t set in yet, to just finish the Christmas holidays and have a new year start off with such tragedy.”
