UPDATED: Wreck closes NC 12 on Pea Island; two fatalities reported

Published 4:02 pm Monday, June 12, 2023

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Two people are reported deceased and four others injured – three critically – following a head-on collision on NC 12 that caused the closure of the highway on the northern end of Hatteras Island on Monday morning.

The North Carolina Highway Patrol was dispatched to the wreck at 10:40 a.m. on June 12, 2023.

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A blue Dodge Caravan driven by Elijah Midgette, of Rodanthe, crossed left of center and collided head-on with a burgundy Chevrolet Suburban driven by Carolyn Elmore, of Bracey, Va., reported Sgt. Matthew Bryan with the North Carolina Highway Patrol.

The collision took place just south of the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center, where NC 12 makes a short rise and curves.

Six people were involved in the incident.

Midgette was pronounced dead at the scene. Elmore was taken to The Outer Banks Hospital in Nags Head, where she died, said Sgt. Bryan.

One passenger was airlifted from the Oregon Inlet Coast Guard Station to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital. Two others were transported by Dare County ambulance to the Norfolk hospital. Those three passengers, who are from Virginia, are in critical condition, reported Sgt. Bryan at 7:30 p.m. on Monday.

A fourth passenger, also from Virginia, is in stable condition at The Outer Banks Hospital as of Monday evening.

Chicamacomico Banks Fire and Rescue was dispatched to the scene at 10:42 a.m. and responded with a ladder truck that transports extrication equipment, two vehicles and seven firefighters. Nags Head Fire Department was called to the scene, bringing an engine with six firefighters.

Dare Emergency Medical Services rolled four ambulances to the scene along with four supervisors in addition to the Dare MedFlight response.

Dare County Sheriff’s Office deputies, a National Park Service law officer, one law enforcement officer from U.S. Fish and Wildlife, off-duty U.S. Coast Guard members and bystanders helped at the scene.

As a result of the wreck, NC 12 was closed with law enforcement officers turning vehicles around at Oregon Inlet and at the roundabout in Rodanthe. The highway reopened at 1:45 p.m.

The wreck investigation is continuing.

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