The Clinton County Coroner’s office has released the name of the 67-year-old Wabash County woman who died in the aftermath of a single-vehicle crash on Illinois Route 37 just south of the Route 161 intersection in rural Kell.
Paula Tarpy of Allendale died while being transported through Clinton County from Salem Township Hospital by ground ambulance to a St. Louis hospital for treatment of very critical injuries. Air Evac declined to fly to the accident scene due to weather conditions.
The Marion County Sheriff’s Department handled the wreck. They reported the driver ran off the left side of Route 37 while traveling northbound at around 60 miles per hour. Tarpy first hit the south end of a retaining wall of a bridge over a creek, went airborne over the creek, hit the north side of the creek bank, lost the driver’s side tire, skidded another 60 feet, before the pickup truck began to roll. It turned over two times before hitting a telephone pole. The pickup came to rest on its wheels. Tarpy was thrown about five feet from the vehicle.
An off-duty paramedic who was following the vehicle rendered care until emergency help arrived from the Marion County Sheriff’s Department, Kell Fire Department, and United Medical Response.
Tarpy was alone in the vehicle at the time of the crash around four Saturday afternoon.
