Oct 26, 2009 7:34 pm US/Eastern
Chilling Wrong-Way Crash 9-1-1 Calls Released
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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Firefighters look at the shell of the minivan that had burst into flames after it collided head-on with an SUV on the Taconic State Parkway on July 26, 2009. Five people, including four children, were killed in the minivan.
CBS
They are chilling reminders of the tragedy on the Taconic State Parkway. On Monday, some of the 9-1-1 calls from the horrific wrong-way accident were released to the media.
It was a Sunday afternoon never to be forgotten. Four children and four adults were killed when a minivan drove the wrong way July 26 on the Taconic for nearly two miles before crashing head-on into an SUV.
The driver of the minivan, Diane Schuler, was declared drunk on vodka and high on marijuana, according to the autopsy. Now, 9-1-1 calls give a glimpse of the deep concern of family and friends as they realized something was wrong with Schuler.
One of the calls comes from a man named "Brad," who is a friend of Schuler's brother, Warren Hance.
Brad: "I'm trying to help a friend of mine; his sister took his girls camping. They're very young girls, the oldest is 9. The girls just called in distress, they said that the aunt is driving very erratically. We think she's sick and we're trying to locate the kids. ... Now the problem is they're like radio silent on the cell phone."
Operator: "Oh."
Brad: "Yeah, I think they called the tate troopers, too."
At State Police in Tarrytown, Capt. Evelyn Mallard tried to arrange for Schuler's cell phone to be traced.
Mallard: "The woman that's driving the car, they think is having a medical emergency 'cause she called and then she couldn't talk anymore. And she's got five kids in the car. The father and the husband, uh, the father and the brother are here at the station."
Mallard turns to Hance, whose two daughters were in the minivan with their aunt, and Hance then talks to Dan Schuler, Diane's husband.
Mallard: "What name would the phone bill be in?"
Hance: "Danny, the phone bill's in Schuler, or it's in Hance?"
Mallard: "Yakking on the phone with his brother-in-law, trying to get some information. ... Schuler?"
The effort to trace Diane Schuler's cell phone was ultimately unnecessary, as minutes later police realized the van that crashed on the Taconic was the van they'd been searching for.
Schuler's son Brian was the only survivor in the minivan. The 5-year-old told police he doesn't remember much about the accident.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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