Couple die in swollen Crooked Creek

Crooked Creek had subsided to lower
water levels by Monday when this picture
was taken. On Saturday it was high
and swift, according to reports.

An elderly Marion couple was found dead in Crooked Creek Sunday night by rescue workers who were dispatched to the scene after a motorist reported finding a vehicle right-side up in the creek.

The investigation is still under way and autopsies are being performed today, but there is speculation that the couple ran off the roadway and into the creek after dark on Saturday.

Their bodies were recovered in the creek about 24 hours later, shortly after a search was deployed downstream.

The victims were identified as Douglas Wayne Keeling, 86, and Martha E. Keeling, 82, both of Marion. The couple is well known in the community. Wayne had been a rural mail carrier for many years.

The couple had apparently been headed toward Marion when their vehicle ran off the bridge, down the embankment (pictured) and into the creek. Because of heavy rainfall, the creek was much deeper and swifter on Saturday evening when the wreck is assumed to have occurred.

See this week's printed edition of The Crittenden Press for further details.