GSP: Driver in 5-fatality wreck was on meth

GAINESVILLE - The Gainesville woman driving the SUV in which five people were killed in Hall County on June 30 had drugs in her system at the time of the crash.<br /> <br /> A Ford Explorer driven by Amanda Lynn Pardue, 34, of Gainesville crossed the raised median while traveling north on Georgia 11/U.S. 129 (Athens Highway) and collided head-on with a southbound tractor-trailer truck.<br /> <br /> Pardue and three of her passengers died at the scene, while the fourth died later that day.<br /> <br /> Results of blood tests performed at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation State Crime Lab were released by Sgt. 1st Class Chad Johnson of the Georgia State Patrol late Wednesday night. <br /> <br /> "One of my other supervisors, Cpl. Rhett Parker, spoke with one of the analysts at the crime lab and they gave the verbal results of positive for methamphetamine, positive for amphetamine and some other drugs within her system," Johnson said.<br /> <br /> Johnson said troopers don't have the quantitative amounts of the other drugs in Pardue's system yet, but "they did say that the methamphetamine that was in her system was at a very high level."<br /> <br /> In addition to Pardue, the wreck claimed the life of 53-year-old Robbie Hollis of Gainesville, 2-year-old Eli Emfinger, 8-year-old Kayliegh Emfinger, and 13-year-old Dalton Martin.<br /> <br /> Eli and Kayliegh Emfinger were Pardue's children, while Martin was Hollis's grandson.<br /> <br /> The driver of the tractor-trailer suffered only minor injuries.<br /> <br /> Johnson said troopers are nearing the finalization of the investigation and their reports since the driver and all other occupants of the vehicle were killed in the crash.<br /> <br /> "Anything after this point would be more or less some type of civil litigation," Johnson said. "We'll complete our report showing that the driver was impaired with the substances that I mentioned."

http://accesswdun.com/article/2014/7/277250