Tiffin man tied to fatal accident

BECKLEY, W.Va. (AP) – West Virginia State Police believe alcohol may have factored into a wrong-way crash in Raleigh County that killed four people, including two girls, who were returning from a vacation to Disney World. The crash happened about 1:30 a.m. Monday on the West Virginia Turnpike south of Beckley, Lt. Michael Baylous said. Baylous said Cory Sheward, 35, of Tiffin, was driving a pickup truck south in the northbound lane and hit an SUV head-on with eight people inside. Sheward and the other four in the SUV suffered injuries that don’t appear life-threatening, Baylous said. Police expect to charge Sheward with four counts each of driving under the influence causing death and causing bodily injury, Baylous said. He was in the hospital Tuesday morning and hadn’t been charged, he said. He said the victims were family members returning to Ohio from Disney World. They were identified as Maxine Wade, 27, and Carlisa Crowell, 29, of Grove City, and two girls, ages 6 and 9. Police did not release the names of the girls. The four other four people in the SUV were 27, 8, 4 and 3 years old. No one in either vehicle was wearing a seatbelt, Baylous said. Police believe Sheward did not follow a curve on the highway and drove through a crossover to head into oncoming traffic, he said.