A rural Bloomville couple is dead after a three-vehicle crash shut down U.S. 30 in Crawford County early Tuesday morning, with a pickup truck crossing into oncoming traffic and slamming head-on into their minivan. Thomas Ward, 72, and his wife Kathy Ward, 73, both died at the scene.
The crash was reported around 6:27 a.m. in the eastbound lane of U.S. 30, west of State Route 602 in Whetstone Township, according to Shelby News Reporter. Thomas Ward was driving the couple's 2024 Toyota Sienna minivan eastbound when the crash occurred; Kathy Ward was riding in the front passenger seat. Both were pronounced dead at the scene, according to the Crawford County Sheriff's Office.
Investigators say the chain of events began when a westbound 2006 Lincoln Mark LT pickup truck sideswiped a semi-truck that was also traveling westbound in the right-hand lane. The preliminary account from the sheriff's office, relayed by the same report, indicates the pickup then exited the roadway to the left and into the median after that initial contact with the semi.
Pickup Crossed the Median Before Impact
From there, the pickup reportedly struck an emergency-turnaround embankment situated between the eastbound and westbound lanes of U.S. 30, which caused the driver to lose control entirely. The vehicle then entered the eastbound lane and struck the Wards' minivan head-on, per the preliminary findings described in the report.
The pickup's driver, a 19-year-old from Broadview Heights, Ohio, was flown from the scene to an Ohio State University hospital by medical helicopter. No additional details on the driver's condition, final investigation findings, or any citations have been released.
Highway Closed for Hours as Crews Responded
Eastbound U.S. 30 was shut down for roughly two and a half hours between County Road 330 at the east junction and State Route 602 while crews worked the scene. Agencies responding included Whetstone Township Volunteer Fire, Jefferson Township Volunteer Fire, Life First EMS, the Crawford County Coroner's Office, MedFlight and the Ohio Department of Transportation, according to the original report.
Tuesday's crash is far from the only serious wreck Crawford County has seen on U.S. 30 in recent memory. A separate three-vehicle crash east of Ohio 598 left one female passenger dead and sent two male passengers from the same vehicle into critical condition, according to Richland Source. And near the Richland County line, a different crash near milepost 1 killed two people and closed the highway for approximately three hours, as reported by Crawford County Now.
A state traffic-safety summary for Crawford County recorded six fatal crashes in 2025, representing less than 1% of crashes by severity, according to the Ohio Traffic Safety Office. That figure reflects a single year and does not establish whether fatal crashes along the corridor are trending up or down.
No further updates on the pickup driver's medical condition or the investigation's final conclusions have been released at this time.
