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Grandmother, toddler killed on 301 South
GSP says victims were struck by truck while crossing busy highway
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    A woman and her three-year-old grandson were killed Thursday when they were struck by a vehicle on U.S. 301 South near A to Z Truck Stop, said Bulloch County Coroner Jake Futch.
    Details were unavailable Friday, due to an ongoing investigation, said Georgia State Patrol Sgt. First-Class J. Hodges.
    Futch said the woman's last name was Patel, but did not have her first name.
    The accident occurred around 8:40 p.m., and the woman was crossing the busy five-lane highway with others, heading for the store, he said.
    Hodges said the truck that struck the woman and child was traveling south on U.S. 301 South, and stopped a distance away from the collision. However, he was unable to release information about the driver and passenger of the truck, citing ongoing investigations and orders from superiors to release limited information at this time, because investigations are incomplete.
     Sgt. Josh Lamb, post commander of GSP Post 45, which covers Bulloch, Evans and Candler counties, echoed Hodges' statement, adding that further details will be released after investigation is complete.
    "There are a lot of pieces to the puzzle, and we have to find those pieces before we put them together," Hodges said.
    Troopers are withholding the identification of the victims as well as the driver and passenger of the truck until information is returned from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Crime Lab, he said.
    Spencer Dutton was inside A to Z Truck Stop when the accident occurred, and said two small children, whose father worked in the store, came running in to tell their father about the accident.
    "They were speaking in a different language, and Sam (the clerk) went running out," she said. Dutton followed, and saw a woman in the middle lane of the highway holding the three-year-old, and the other victim lying in the center lane several yards away from where the collision occurred, she said.
    She questioned the children, who said a red truck struck the victims after the child darted out in front of the truck. The children told her the grandmother followed to save the child and was struck as well, she said.
    Dutton said she saw a red truck nearby and heard a man tell troopers he was a passenger in the vehicle, and that a woman  had been driving.
    Seeing the aftermath of the accident was rattling, she said.
    "I really had a breakdown when I came to my senses and realized what happened," she said.
    Hodges said further information regarding the accident, including the names of those involved, may be released over the weekend or by Monday, depending on the GBI crime lab results and further investigation.
    
 Holli Deal Bragg may be reached at 489-9414.
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