Since Lizzie was taken from us,  we have been raising her beloved son , Aayden.    He was 19 months old at the time .  He is now 12 years old and is quite the wonderful young man .  He is the light of our lives and has the same colorful personality as his momma did .  Thank you Lizzie for this wonderful gift you

Highway 63 wreck claims two lives

Two Boone County women died yesterday after the car they were in hydroplaned off northbound Highway 63 and collided with a tractor-trailer in north Boone County.

Whitney M. Bentlage, 18, of Ashland and Elizabeth A. Shea, 20, of Columbia were ejected from the 2000 Pontiac Grand Am after the collision. Both women were pronounced dead at the scene.

At about 8:20 a.m., the highway patrol said, Bentlage was driving north on Highway 63 near Sturgeon when she lost control on the wet pavement near McHatton Road. The Pontiac then traveled off the left side of the highway, crossed a grassy median and collided with a southbound Volvo semi.

The driver of the semi was identified as Thomas W. Goddard, 39, of Chariton, Iowa. Goddard told emergency crews that he was not injured, but he was taken by ambulance to Boone Hospital Center for observation.

Joan Bentlage, Bentlage’s grandmother, said the two women were carpooling to cosmetology classes at Merrell University of Beauty Arts and Science in Moberly. The teen graduated in May from Southern Boone High School and had always wanted to work in cosmetology.

“She was so proud. She had just gotten her special nail kit,” Joan Bentlage said.

Bentlage’s mother, Lisa Forbis, said her daughter would host “makeover parties” for Forbis, her aunts and cousins. She was to attend a hairdressing contest in Jefferson City today, Forbis said.

“We’d always have these parties and she’d wax all of our eyebrows … and cut all of our hair,” Forbis said. The two women had become friends through the cosmetology program, which Bentlage started this summer.

The family members said Bentlage will be missed most because of her constant smile and fun loving spirit.

“Whitney was a very vibrant, beautiful young lady,” Joan Bentlage said. “We’re all devastated.”

Shea was the mother of a 1½–year-old boy, Forbis said.

Forbis described her daughter as a good driver, but she worried about driving in the rain.

“Rain always made her nervous because she had hydroplaned once before,” Forbis said. “So I’m sure she was pretty nervous this morning. It was coming down pretty hard.”

When Boone County firefighters reached the wreck, Division Chief Gale Blomenkamp said, they found what remained of the Pontiac in the median. The tractor-trailer had stopped on the highway shoulder, a quarter-mile to the south.

Blomenkamp said the Pontiac “broadsided” the semi and did not hit it directly head on.

“Saying that speed was a factor would not be accurate because we don’t know how fast they were going,” Blomenkamp said. “But I’d say driving too fast for road conditions would be an accurate statement.”

Survivors of Whitney Bentlage include her grandparents, Troy and Joan Bentlage of Columbia; parents, Lisa Forbis of Hallsville and David Bentlage of Ashland; and five brothers.

 

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Lizzie Shea, 1987-2007

 

 

Elizabeth "Lizzie" Anne Shea was born May 23, 1987.

She left us on Saturday, Oct. 13, 2007.

Visitation will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 16, at Parker Funeral Service in downtown Columbia. Lizzie’s memorial service will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Parker Funeral Service. She will be surrounded by her many friends and relatives who love her as we say goodbye.

She is greatly loved and will be deeply missed by her father, Mark Shea; her mother and best friend, Kathy Allen; and her stepfather, Eddie Allen. She is survived by her 19-month-old son, Aayden Shea; her brother, Matt Shea, and sister Jessica Shea.

Two die in weather-related car crash

 

By RYLAND DEVERO

October 13, 2007 | 5:35 p.m. CST

COLUMBIA — Two women were pronounced dead at the scene of a car accident in northern Boone County on Saturday morning after the driver lost control of the vehicle because of rainy weather, crossed into oncoming traffic and hit a tractor-trailer, firefighters said.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol identified the victims as Whitney M. Bentlage, 18, and Elizabeth A. Shea, 20, both of Columbia.

Bentlage was driving north on U.S. 63 at McHatton Road when she lost control on the wet highway and her vehicle crossed the center median into southbound traffic. The vehicle struck the tractor-trailer nearly broadside and came to rest on its wheels back in the median, said Gale Blomenkamp, a division chief with the Boone County Fire Protection District.

Bentlage and Shea were ejected from the vehicle. It was unknown if they were wearing seat belts, Blomenkamp said.

The truck driver, Thomas W. Goddard, of Chariton, Iowa, was taken by ambulance to Boone Hospital Center for observation, according to a Fire Protection District news release.

“The driver of the tractor trailer stated that he had no injuries and initially refused treatment, but because he worked for a company, the company wanted him transported as a precaution,” Blomenkamp said.

After responding to the accident at 8:24 a.m., Boone County firefighters remained on the scene for two hours, and Blomenkamp said that southbound U.S. 63 was limited to one lane of traffic during that time.

“It was clear up north, and traffic was not backed up or slowed down for any extended period of time,” he said.

Update on 2 women killed in crash

A new update on a head-on crash with a tractor-trailer that claimed the lives of two mid-missouri women yesterday.

Posted: Sunday, October 14, 2007 at 10:18 p.m.

A new update on a head-on crash with a tractor-trailer that claimed the lives of two mid-missouri women yesterday.

The highway patrol identified the women as 18-year-old Whitney Bentlage, of Ashland, and 20-year-old Elizabeth Shea, of Columbia.
    
Relatives say the women were attending cosmetology classes at Merrell University and that the two were carpooling to classes saturday morning when the crash happened.    

Highway patrol says Bentlage lost control of this pontiac grand-am on a wet stretch of U.S. 63 in Columbia. She traveled off the left side of the road, through the median, then colliding with the oncoming tractor-trailer.
  
Bentlage and Shea were thrown from the car and were pronounced dead at the scene.

Relatives say Shea leaves behind a one-and-a-half-year-old son.

Lizzie Shea’s vivacious and colorful personality made her a joy to be around.
“I have never known anyone who had as much life in her as she did,” her mother, Kathy Allen, said. “She was not only my daughter, she was also my best friend.”
And as best friends, they spent time together shopping, getting their nails done and “just doing the ‘girl thing,’” Allen said.
Elizabeth “Lizzie” Anne Shea of Columbia died Saturday, Oct. 13, 2007, in a car accident on U.S. 63 in northern Boone County. She was 20.
Ms. Shea was born May 23, 1987, in Fort Leonard Wood to Mark Shea and Kathy Allen. She graduated from Hickman High School in 2005.
She was attending Merrell University of Beauty Arts & Science in Moberly, with hopes of becoming a cosmetologist.
“She was scheduled to be in a competition (Sunday) and she just never made it,” Allen said. “She loved makeup, style and hair and thought it would be a good way to support her son.”
Her son, Aayden, is 19 months old.
“She was a great little momma to Aayden,” Allen said. “He’ll learn about her when he gets older. He’ll just know he was loved so much.”
Ms. Shea is survived by her son, Aayden Shea; her father, Mark Shea of Waynesville; her mother and stepfather Kathy and Eddie Allen, both of Columbia; a brother, Matt Shea of Buffalo, N.Y.; and a sister, Jessica Shea of Columbia.

Boone County Fire District Responds to Double Fatality Accident on Highway 63 Gale Blomenkamp, Division Chief/PIO - Saturday, October 13, 2007 The Boone County Fire District responded to a reported accident at 8:24 a.m. this morning on Highway 63 at McHatton Rd in northern Boone County. When firefighters on Engine 601, located in Sturgeon, arrived, they found a two vehicle accident involving a passenger car and a tractor trailer. The passenger vehicle was located in the median and sustained extreme damage. The tractor trailer was found sitting upright on the shoulder of southbound 63 a quarter mile south of the car. Firefighters immediately assessed two victims, Elizabeth Shea age 20 and Whitney Bentlage age 18 of Columbia, who had both been ejected from the vehicle. Both victims had already succumbed to their injuries when firefighters arrived and were pronounced dead on the scene. The driver of the tractor trailer, Thomas Goddard age 39 of Chariton, IA, stated he had no injuries but was eventually transported by ambulance to Boone Hospital for observation. The crash occurred when the passenger vehicle driven by Bentlage, which was traveling northbound, apparently lost control on the wet roadway, crossed the center median into the southbound lanes of traffic and was struck nearly head-on by the southbound tractor trailer. “It is a very unfortunate accident”, said Division Chief Gale Blomenkamp. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of these young women,” he added. The Boone County Fire District responded with two trucks and 14 firefighters and were on the scene for two hours.

Mom rues lack of cables on road
Daughter died in crossover accident.

 

 

On a Saturday in October, just three days after burying her daughter, Lisa Forbis drove on rain-slick Interstate 70 in a car with four grieving relatives on their way to Kansas City International Airport.

 

Forbis spotted an eastbound car starting to hydroplane. It careened off the highway into the grass median, heading at her westbound car. Before the vehicle could skid on about 40 feet of turf and into oncoming traffic, it struck three steel cables anchored in the median. All five people in the wrecked vehicle walked off without a scratch, Forbis said.

"I couldn’t believe it. All it did was it just encased the car and stopped it right there," Forbis said of the cables. "Everybody jumped out, and I pulled off on the side of the road to make sure they were OK, and they were all fine."

Forbis believes that if those same cables had been in place on Highway 63 a week earlier her daughter still would be alive.

"It infuriated me to think about it, because on 63 there was nothing there to prevent her from getting hurt or let the other driver get out of her way," she said. "It’s almost senseless."

On Oct. 12, daughter Whitney Bentlage, 18, of Ashland was driving north on Highway 63 with friend Elizabeth Shea, 22, of Columbia on their way to class at Merrill University of Beauty Arts and Science in Moberly.

Bentlage lost control of the car in the rain and skidded across the median before broadsiding an oncoming semitrailer. The women died at the scene.

"If they had" median cables "here, Whitney would be planning her wedding today and Liz would be at home with her son," Forbis said this morning as she revisited the crash site.

Median cables have become a hot topic recently. This week the Missouri Department of Transportation announced it would continue stringing median cables along key highways. Plans are for 55 miles of cable on Highway 67 and 45 miles of cable on Interstate 55 in southeast Missouri.

MoDOT also announced that median cables already in place have had a significant effect. In 2007, there were two fatal crossover accidents on sections of I-70, Interstate 44, Interstate 55 and Interstate 29, where the cables are installed, down from 55 crossover deaths on those same sections of road the year before cables were installed. No crossover fatalities have occurred on I-70 in MoDOT’s 13-county Central District since the cables were installed, compared to about two deaths a year previously.

"We expected the cables to improve safety numbers, but seeing these results was an unexpected thrill for all of us," MoDOT Director Pete Rahn said in a written statement.

MoDOT says a section of Highway 63 is prioritized to include cables, but it won’t occur until more funding is available.

"It’s on our radar," said Eric Schroeter, assistant district manager for MoDOT’s Central District. Schroeter said 10 stretches of highway are slated to get cables next, including the 30-mile stretch of Highway 63 between Jefferson City and Columbia. He estimated 2011 or 2012 as likely for installation.

Costs of $100,000 per mile have resulted in a slow pace of construction and relatively small area of protection. That puts the price of Jefferson City-Columbia cables at $3 million. Funding comes from federal "safety money" and MoDOT’s construction budget.

Maintenance of the cables has additional costs. Last year, along 70 miles of I-70 in the Central District, crews had to make 350 repairs after accidents, at an average cost of $1,000 per repair.

"They do try to recover that money from the insurance companies as people hit it, but" about one-quarter is paid for by the state, Schroeter said.

That means Highway 63 will continue to be a crossover hazard. Between 2002 and 2006, there were four fatal crossover accidents and six that caused disabling injuries between Jefferson City and Columbia. In December, a National Guard soldier and University of Missouri student, Neilson Rudd, 22, was killed in the median along Highway 63 after he stopped to help a motorist.

"I just wonder how many more kids have to die or be seriously hurt before we start changing things," Forbis said.