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Mother of 2 dies in Pasco crash
By SAUNDRA AMRHEIN and BRADY DENNIS
© St. Petersburg Times, GOWERS CORNER -- Relatives say Carol Norwood was a "happy go lucky" woman who moved around after leaving her two sons in February with her half sister. "She was one day here, another there," said Mary Kimble, who has been caring for Norwood's two sons, ages 7 and 9, in her three-bedroom mobile home in the Royal Highlands area north of Spring Hill. Kimble, 50, would not name the boys, whom she shooed into the home from the ramp leading from her house. She said she had no idea who the two men riding with Norwood were when Norwood's car plowed head-on into a semitrailer truck Wednesday on U.S. 41 north of State Road 52 in Pasco County. Norwood and her two passengers, were killed in the accident. Troopers said the two males had no identification on them, and their names had not been released by the Florida Highway Patrol on Thursday. FHP troopers said Norwood, 44, formerly of 13308 Ester Drive northwest of Brooksville, was headed north on U.S. 41 about 11 p.m. when she crossed the center line. Coming the other direction was a 1999 Mack truck driven by Raymond Leroy Portwood Jr., 51, of 14711 N 16th St. in Lutz. Troopers said Portwood swerved left when Norwood crossed into his lane. But Norwood apparently swerved back into her lane at the last second. The result was a head-on collision between the truck and Norwood's 1998 Ford car. Portwood was not injured in the crash. Norwood and her sons had been living with Kimble for about two years, moving there from Sanford to help Kimble care for their ill mother, who died last year. She worked periodically at nursing homes before moving out in February, leaving her sons with Kimble. "She had a boyfriend, and they were going to get married, but that fell through," Kimble said softly. She called and visited the boys once a week, Kimble said. Other than that, Kimble wasn't sure where Norwood lived. But she didn't worry about finding her. "Brooksville's not that big. You can always find someone in Brooksville," she said. Police found Kimble and appeared on her doorstep after the accident because Norwood's driver's license listed Kimble's address, she said. Kimble said she was in the process of trying to get custody of the boys. Tears welled in Kimble's eyes when she was asked to describe Norwood and her relationship with her younger sibling. "We've been close all our lives," she said. Norwood was the youngest of 17 siblings, half siblings and stepsiblings. Kimble, who was close in age, stayed close to her side. "I was the big sister" The sisters moved to Florida from upstate New York in 1969 when their parents moved to the state to retire. Kimble said she didn't want to judge Norwood and the decisions she made recently that affected her children. "Just sometimes callings are different for some," she said. "She meant well." An investigation of the accident continued Thursday.
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From today's Hernando Times |
