2 killed in Elizabethtown crash identified

ELIZABETHTOWN, Ky. (WAVE) – Two people were killed in a crash in Elizabethtown on Monday.

The crash happened in the 2500 block of Leitchfield Road around 11 a.m., Elizabethtown Police Department spokesman Officer Chris Denham said.

Denham said it appears the driver of a Chevrolet Cobalt was going westbound and went into a skid, which caused the vehicle to go into the eastbound lane and hit a Chevrolet Venture.

Just after 3 p.m. Monday, Denham identified the driver of the Cobalt as 17-year-old John Wiglesworth, of Cecilia. The driver of the Venture was identified as Louise Pullen, 79, of Elizabethtown.

“It’s very sad,” Denham said. “There’s two families who have lost their true north.”

Pullen was a retired bus driver for Hardin County Schools, according to a spokesperson for the district.

In a Facebook message Monday night, Wiglesworth’s mother Tonya said the tragic crash doesn’t seem real.

“His goal in life was to see people smile and to bring joy into a bad situation,” Tonya said. “He was an incredible young man that put others first.

Wiglesworth was in his senior year at Central Hardin High and was taking classes at the Early College and Career Center. Police said he was driving back to Central from EC3 when the crash happened.

He was known to family and classmates as J.T. EC3 instructor Tom Pitt affectionately called the teenager “Wiggle.”

“The students in our pathway they’re a family, they’re one body and the students, his classmates they didn’t lose a friend they lost part of them today,” Pitt said.

The 17-year-old was passionate about cars and getting ready for a new internship in the field.

“He had a strong passion for automotive, really was good at it, really knew his craft,” said EC3 Principal Dan Robbins. “He had a knack for making a bad day into a very good day, so we’re trying to remind our kids of that and to gravitate towards each other.”

Grief counseling is being offered to students at Central and EC3. Central Hardin Principal Tim Isaacs said they will provide those services to students as long as they are needed.

“Watching these kids cling to each other just in the last couple hours, it’s hard,” Isaacs said. “It’s really, really hard. When you see a kid like that who had figured it out and knew what they wanted to suffer this kind of tragedy it’s just pointless.”

Police said this isn’t the first tragic crash that’s happened in that spot on 62. In fact, there’s a memorial with three crosses from another fatal accident.

Denham said the cause of the crash remains under investigation and they aren’t sure yet if weather played a factor. With heavy rain, the roads were slippery, and visibility was low for much of the day.

“Nothing is worth losing your life over,” Denham said. “Just always be careful and if you’re a few minutes late then so be it. It’s not worth causing an accident.”

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