Griffin church members mourn victims of I-75 crash

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Posted 8:08AM on Monday, July 22, 2002

GRIFFIN, Ga. - Members of a Spalding County church are mourning the deaths of six members killed in a wreck near Tifton as they returned from a trip to St. Augustine, Fla. Two vans from the Church on Fire were transporting a caravan of 23 people in the church's youth group after a week of sightseeing. The victims, five of them children, died when their minivan was crushed between two tractor-trailers on Interstate 75 Friday afternoon. Officials said the accident happened shortly before 3 p.m. in northern Cook County. Worshippers were overcome by grief at Sunday services. The driver of the van, Ricky Wilson, was the only survivor. His wife, Michelle, and 16-year-old son, Josh, were among victims. "The families are doing as well as could be expected," Pastor Keith Ford said. "They were hysterical and asking us, 'Why?' It keeps coming back. One moment I've got it together, and then, I just lose it." The crash triggered a five-vehicle pileup that shut down all northbound lanes. Also killed in the wreck were James Harvey, 15; Jesse Harvey, 13 and Hannah Harvey, 10. Another teen, Courtney Griggs, 16, also died Friday. Adam Pierce, 15, watched in disbelief as he heard the crash behind the van he was in. He had shared a room with the Harvey brothers while in Florida. "We just watched in horror," Adam said. "We looked back and the smoke was so intense. The minivan had a cellphone. We just called and called and no one answered." Church on Fire is an interdenominational congregation that meets in a building on U.S. 19/41. Ford said the name was designed to attract motorist passing on the highway. "We're getting by, just leaning on one another," Ford said.