Highway Horror: Youth Pastor Couple and Infant Son Crushed to Death by Concrete Slab as They Drove Under Overpass
A young couple who served as youth pastors at a vibrant church in Bonney Lake, Washington, were crushed to death along with their 8-month-old son after a concrete slab fell from an overpass and slammed into their vehicle as they drove along a local highway Monday morning.
Pastor James Ludlow of Eastpointe Foursquare Church in Pierce County confirmed in a message posted on the church's website that the departed couple, Josh and Vanessa Ellis, both reportedly in their 20s, and their infant son, Hudson, were an active and beloved family and the church community had been left in emotional tatters by the news.
"As many of you have heard or are hearing, our community and our church has suffered a tragedy. Our wonderful youth pastors, Josh and Vanessa Ellis, along with Hudson, their 8-month-old boy, immediately went to be with Jesus at around 10 a.m. on April 13, 2015. (Literally in the 'twinkling of an eye.') We are stunned! Shocked! Wounded, broken and dismayed. But we know one thing for sure ... they are in glory in the loving arms of our King Jesus!" he said, in part, in the message.
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According to Komo News, emergency responders received reports Monday that a heavy concrete barrier had fallen from the Highway 410 overpass spanning Angeline Road and rushed to the scene at about 10:15 a.m.
"We found that the ... barrier that covers SR-410 that was being worked on by construction workers came loose from the overpass and fell onto Angeline Road and struck one vehicle that was traveling north on the road," Officer Todd Green of the Bonney Lake Police told Komo News. "When it fell off the overpass, it landed square on the roof of the vehicle."
And the aftermath was ghastly.
"The damage was so severe it was impossible to tell how many persons were in the vehicle," said Green, who tried hard to keep his composure. "The only thing you could tell. You could tell there was one victim."
It took emergency responders nine hours to clear the debris from the vehicle before they could ascertain the extent of the horror that happened along the highway.
Katie Vance, who lives nearby and was inside her home when the freak accident occurred, told Komo News that the force of the crash made her whole house shake.
"I thought a semi had come down the guard rail here in front," she said. "It was a metal sound and a very heavy sound ... it was through your feet, like a guttural. It shook the whole house."
Dawn Nelson said she was driving behind the couple along the highway when the crash took place and had difficulty processing what happened at first.
"I was just a second or two behind him," she said of the couple. "I could hear the three crunch sounds and then it just came down. … Really, it's surreal. …You can't process it at first. Like, 'what's going on, did this really just happen?'"
The construction project is part of a plan to widen the sidewalk on the north side of SR-410 and a tribally owned company called WHH Nisqually is reported as the main contractor. Investigators are now trying to piece together what happened and are debating whether or not the road should have been closed while the construction project was underway.
"That really is in the responsibility of the contractor to decide whether it is to be closed down," said Green. "Right now it looks like a very sad accident."
While Ludlow says the church community wasn't angry about what happened, the couple's family issued a statement stating they want "the responsible parties to be held accountable for this tragic loss of life.
THANK YOU to each and every soul and church body that has answered the call to shine a light upon our path during this...
Posted by EastPointe Foursquare Church on Tuesday, April 14, 2015
The deceased couple described themselves a fun-loving and passionate duo who loved God on their church's website.
"We love to laugh. We are passionate about seeing young people discover the love and grace that Jesus abundantly pours out on them. We get really excited about good coffee, quality time with friends and Seattle welcoming an NBA basketball team back to our city. We believe that the local church is the greatest instrument God is using to bring HIs kingdom to Earth. Our favorite place is in His presence and we love to worship with our church body. We love drive-in movies, frozen yogurt, dates to IKEA and trips to the beach," the couple noted.
In the meantime, Ludlow says he's confident that God will turn the horror into something beautiful despite the grief.
"We need to mourn well — it's OK to cry," said Ludlow. "It is difficult, it is hard, it is a sucker punch to the heart, to both kidneys and the lungs at the same time. But at the end of the day, we know that God will find gold in the ugly, dark place that our kids are having to walk through right now."
