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Herschel
runs over...
to Monroe
County
SEE PAGE 3A
Cheer Dogs
aim for
state title
PAGE 1B
WELCOME
TO THE FAMILY
Maggie Taylor
Carleen Raymer
Dan Williamson
Lee Lemke
Nelson & Kim Grist
Lisa Griffin
3 days, 5 deaths
Tragic accidents shake Monroe County
Burkett remembered as hero
for trying to save women
from oncoming train Wed.
Rail crews and Monroe County deputies work the wreck scene Wednesday night.
By Will Davis
publisher™ my mcr.net
Chris Burkett and David
Buffington were repair
ing a pasture fence on the
Treadwell farm off Collier
Road last Wednesday eve
ning. With the time change,
it was already dark but they
were still working, trying to
get the farm looking sharp
for the Treadwell’s Thanks
giving gathering. Around
6:15 p.m. they saw the fam
ily matriarch, 93-year-old
Shirley Treadwell, heading
down the driveway with
her nurse Debra Hall, 66,
driving. Hall, who took
care of Mrs. Treadwell, had
made dinner and had come
TREADWELL BURKETT
to pick Mrs. Treadwell up
to take her to her home in
town to eat.
“We waved ‘bye and
didn’t think anything of it,”
said Buffington. But then
they heard the engine rev
ving and rocks churning
and looked over. Hall had
gotten her Flex stuck on the
railroad tracks just before
the driveway empties onto
Collier Road. And they
also heard a train whistle.
“We looked at each other
and took off running,” said
Buffington. The 47-year-
old Burkett outran the
22-year-old Buffington and
got there first with both
screaming “get out of the
car!” and trying to open the
doors. Both were locked
when they arrived and
Buffington said he thinks
Hall had understandably
frozen with fear. He said
their eyes met and she
unlocked the door.
Buffington said the car’s
tire had bottomed out
up against the track and
there was no moving the
car. Buffington said they
couldn’t open the car
door at first because it was
jamming into the tracks.
Finally the two men forced
it open and Burkett got
halfway inside the pas
senger side and worked to
pick up Mrs. Treadwell.
See TRAIN Page 7A
‘He was a hard personality to miss’
By Will Davis
publisher™ my mcr.net
Mary Persons is remem
bering 17-year-old Caden
Swancey as a fun-loving
baseball player after he died
in a one-vehicle accident on
Friday.
“I will miss him being our
happy person on the team,” SWANCEY
senior Aric Mock said at a
candle light vigil at the MP
baseball field on Monday. “He was
our most determined player. The last
we did together was hit in the
Senior Jake Causey said he
played baseball with Caden
the last 10 years.
“He had a hard personality
to miss,” said Causey. “You
can’t replace Caden. We all
need somebody like him in
our lives, to make us laugh.
He brought energy every
where he went.”
The son of Clay and Suzanne
See SWANCEY Page7A
•? up
G,.
fsnG-ilsP
MP
base
ball
players
hold
candles
at a
vigil for
team
mate
Caden
Swanc
ey on
Mon
day.
NEW SUBSCRIBERS
OF THE WEEK
DEATHS »>6A
Shirley Winters
Shirley Treadwell
Debra Hall
Brandy Zellner
Pedestrian, 39, struck, killed on
Brandy
Zellner
was
killed on
Frontage
Road.
A Forsyth woman was killed Fri
day night after being struck by an
elderly driver on Frontage Road.
Brandy Zellner, 39, of Forsyth
was walking on Frontage Road
behind the America’s Best Inn
when she was hit by a Ford Focus
driven by Mona Faye Arnold, 79,
of Forsyth.
Arnold was traveling south
on N. Frontage Road when the
driver went off the road and hit
Zellner. The driver of the vehicle
then swerved causing the vehicle
to leave the road, hitting a tree.
The pedestrian was immediately
taken to Monroe County Hospital
where she died as a result of her
injuries. Arnold was also taken to
the hospital.
Frontage
Sheriff Brad Freeman said it was
not uncommon for Zellner to
walk around town. Forsyth police
turned the investigation over to
the sheriff’s office. Last week’s
tragedies nearly doubled the
number of fatalities on Monroe
County roads in 2021, jumping
from 6 to 11. There were 15 road
fatalities in the county in 2020.
CAROLYN S CORNER by Carolyn Martel
OfiflOS
R341b
The reality of tragedy,
suffering and grief
I’ll never forget when sheriff came to my door
N o doubt, we live in
a world of shattered
dreams and hurting
people. Ev
ery one of us has been
broken, bruised, or
disillusioned in some
way. Maybe some of
you are at a crossroads
in your life right now.
You’re looking for di
rection. You’re looking
for answers and
solutions for the
heartaches, grief
and anxiety you
are experiencing.
I have a friend who is struggling
with these emotions, and ques
tions if things will ever change in
her life. This example only serves
to prove that we brush shoulders
everyday with people who need
to be restored, filled with hope
and even persuaded that God re
ally cares about them.
WE ALL have dreams
and aspirations for a
happy life, but some
times those dreams can
be crushed in an instant.
When tragedy occurs, we
cannot rely on our own
strength. We need
to be surrounded
by people who love
us, and most of all
we need to receive
God’s comfort and supernatu
ral peace. I don’t claim to be a
therapist, but I can share with
See CAROLYN Page6A
DA clears Reece
of all charges
A security camera shows Steve Reece holding
wanted felon Justin Donley at gunpoint at the
Rumble Road BP Nov. 6, 2019. The video was
shown at a warrant hearing but will not be
released until Donley is tried, set for next month.
District
attorney
Jonathan
Adams
an
nounced
on Mon
day he is
dropping
all charges
against store clerk Steve
Reece, 10 days after
magistrate judge Hugh
Sosebee charged Reece
with aggravated assault
for firing warning shots
in 2019 at a fugitive
considered armed and
dangerous.
“Too often our
neighbors and schools
in Monroe County are
going into lock-down
while law enforcement
search for an armed
and dangerous felon,”
Adams wrote in an
nouncing his decision.
“The members of
this community
are tired of the sense
less violence, gangs and
drug trafficking we see
See REECE Page 7A
ADAMS