Elden M. Bailey, 66, Lawrence, was pronounced dead at 3:20 p.m. Wednesday at the University of Kansas Hospital.

According to Kansas Highway Patrol reports, Thomas R. Sheppard, 46, Lawrence, was heading east in a 2004 F-150 truck behind Bailey’s 1992 Buick Century on K-32 when Bailey tried to turn left, or north, onto 238th.
Sheppard’s 2004 Ford F150 rear-ended the 1992 Buick Century, Kansas Highway Patrol reports said.

Bailey and a passenger, Janet M. Bailey, 55, Lawrence, were not wearing seat belts when the accident occurred, reports said. Janet Bailey was taken to the University of Kansas Hospital. Hospital officials could neither confirm nor deny that she was a patient.

Sheppard was wearing a seat belt.

A nurse who lived near the wreck site arrived on scene after the accident.
The nurse, Bryce Renne, said she dialed 911 at 12:06 p.m. She said first responders could not open the doors of the vehicle. Instead, they communicated with the man and woman through an opening in the back of the vehicle, which had been pushed into the back seat of the vehicle from the truck’s impact.

“We couldn’t get to them,” Renne said.

Jaws of life were used to get the man and woman out of the vehicle.

Traffic was stopped on K-32 for at least an hour and a half after the accident.

Check back to The Mirror’s Web site for more information. A complete story also can be found in the Oct. 19 edition of The Mirror.