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Scattered thunderstorms early, then cloudy skies after midnight. Low 61F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 50%.
PHILIPPI — A couple identified as John Dale Russ Jr. and Darlene Russ of Philippi were killed sometime Monday after their farm tractor rolled over a hill off W.Va. 57 in Barbour County, according to sources.
“It was a husband and a wife, and they were in their 50s,” Philippi Fire Chief Dave Utt said. “They were going up a steep driveway to check on their elderly father.”
Utt said that was Russ’ father, John Russ Sr.
It appears the tractor got about halfway up the driveway, slid on the snow and back down the driveway before rolling about 20 feet down the hill, Utt said.
A 911 call about the accident was received at 12:35 p.m. Monday, but the time of the fatal incident is unknown, Utt said.
“The elderly gentleman they were going to check on looked out the window and called, but I think the tractor had been there awhile before he saw it,” Utt said.
The rescue took seven and a half hours because of weather conditions, and National Guard personnel responded to help clear a path to the scene, Utt said.
Responding besides Philippi firefighters were Stonewood, Nutter Fort and Belington firefighters, Barbour County Emergency Squad personnel, and Barbour County Sheriff’s Department and State Police officers.
Services for the couple will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday at Wright Funeral Home in Philippi.
Calls to the sheriff’s department were not immediately returned.
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