New details emerge about crash that killed Bluffton teen

Four days after a 14-year-old Bluffton girl was killed in a hit-and-run wreck on I-26 while she traveled home from a track meet with her best friend and her friend’s mother, new details of the crash emerged from a fire chief who responded to the scene late Saturday.

Chief Nick Stabler of the Caw Caw Fire Department told The Island Packet on Tuesday that driver Andrea Dewey was pinned in the Nissan Rogue when firefighters arrived at the scene. Dewey’s daughter Emma and Emma’s friend, Grace Sulak, both 14, were passengers in the vehicle. The crash happened in Calhoun County.

“When we got to the scene, we had three people in the vehicle that hit a pine tree,” Stabler said. “We had to use our extraction tools to remove the top of the vehicle to make it more accessible.”

He said Sulak was the backseat on the driver’s side of the vehicle and had already died by the time they arrived. Emma Dewey was in the front seat on the passenger side.

All three were wearing seat belts.

Two helicopters were requested for Andrea and Emma Dewey, he said. Members of the Sandy Run Volunteer Fire Department also were called to the scene, Stabler said.

He said two witnesses and a reconstruction of the wreck helped Highway Patrol troopers determine it was a hit-and-run.

Sgt. Bob Beres, citing the continuing investigation, on Tuesday declined to release more information about the crash that killed Sulak.

Beres said law enforcement is still on the lookout for a white Dodge Ram 2500 crew cab pickup truck investigators believe left the wreck after Andrea Dewey’s car ran off the road.

The truck is expected to have damage to the right front bumper or fender area, the patrol has said.

Anyone with information can call the Highway Patrol at 843-953-6010 or 1-800-768-1506.

Anonymous tips can also be made to Crime Stoppers at 1-888-CrimeSC.

This story was originally published May 10, 2016 at 2:39 PM with the headline "New details emerge about crash that killed Bluffton teen."