Wrong-way crash on I-69 Saturday kills Madisonville man

A wrong-way crash along I-69 in Webster County on Saturday claimed the life of a Madisonville man.

Kentucky State Police said that Webster County officials called them to investigate the crash near the 128-mile marker of I-69. The investigation showed that 61-year-old William J. Holmes of Madisonville was driving northbound in the southbound lanes just after 12:30 p.m. Saturday. The pickup Holmes was driving is said to have hit a semi driven by Elizabeth Duporte-Hobson of Palm Coast, Florida head-on. After the initial crash, the Holmes vehicle hit an SUV driven by Robyn Crain of Dover, Tennessee. 

The Webster County Coroner pronounced Holmes dead at the scene. Duporte-Hobson was taken to a local hospital for treatment of her injuries. Crain was not hurt.  

The crash is still under investigation.

Meanwhile, WFIE-TV in Evansville is reporting that minutes before that crash, Holmes had sped out of his driveway and into the front yard of his neighbor Shannon King. King was hit by Holmes as she was reportedly raking leaves. King was flown to an Evansville hospital. 

The Hopkins County Sheriff's Office also told WFIE that Holmes sped through the backyard of another neighbor, nearly hitting the man and a small child. 

After that is said to be when Holmes entered I-69 the wrong way, causing the crash.

Some source material courtesy of WFIE-TV in Evansville