Driver, daughter in fatal crash remain in hospital

The driver of a vehicle involved in a Saturday hit-and-run crash in which a 14-year-old Bluffton girl died and her daughter was injured was listed in fair condition by hospital officials Monday morning.

Andrea Dewey was driving her daughter Emma Dewey and her friend Grace Sulak back to Bluffton from a track meet in Columbia around 5:45 p.m. on I-26 in Calhoun County when their vehicle was struck by an unknown driver, according to the S.C. Highway Patrol.

Sulak died immediately at the scene after the vehicle was struck, ran off the road and hit a tree. She was only months away from graduating middle school at River Ridge Academy.

Andrea and Emma Dewey were airlifted from the site of the wreck to Palmetto Health Richland Trauma Center in Columbia, the Highway Patrol reported.

A condition report for Emma Dewey was not available Monday from the hospital because she is not listed as a patient, according to Tammie Epps, media relations manager for the hospital.

However, Rebecca Baez, a friend of the Dewey family, told an Island Packet reporter Monday that Emma Dewey is on a respirator at the same hospital.

Baez said Emma does respond by squeezing fingers when spoken to and is receiving blood transfusions “to help her body start to heal” as she recovers from breaks to disks in her lumbar region.

The crash remains under investigation Monday, Sgt. Bob Beres said.

The offender’s vehicle has been described as a white Dodge Ram 2500 Crew Cab pickup truck believed to have damage to the right front bumper or fender area on the passenger side. The exact year of the vehicle is currently unknown, Beres said.

“The public’s help is a great help,” Beres said. If you know someone who drives that vehicle that didn’t have any damage and now does on the front, that would be something we'd want to look into.”

Anyone who may have seen a vehicle matching that description can contact the patrol at 843-953-6010 or Crime Stoppers at 1-888-CrimeSC.

This story was originally published May 9, 2016 at 11:00 AM with the headline "Driver, daughter in fatal crash remain in hospital."