Local teen killed in wreck
LITTLEVILLE – A Franklin County teenager was killed in an early Tuesday morning wreck that left three other teens injured.
Officials said Chris Vandiver, 18, of Spruce Pine, was pronounced dead at Helen Keller Hospital following the one-car wreck that happened on Osborn Hill Road in Colbert County at 1:48 a.m. Tuesday. The wreck happened just east of U.S. 43 near Yogi’s convenience store in Littleville.
Reports indicated that a 16-year-old and an 18-year-old, who were passengers in the vehicle, were injured in the wreck and flown by Air Evac to Huntsville Hospital.
The fourth teen in the car was not seriously injured according to reports.
“The thing I remember about Chris is that he always had a smile on his face,” said Colbert Heights High School principal Anthony Olivis.
Vandiver attended Colbert Heights before transferring to Phil Campbell High School prior to this past school year, which was his junior year.
“He came here for this past year and he always seemed like a real good kid, never got into any trouble,” Phil Campbell High School assistant principal Darrit Riddle said.
Olivis said Vandiver was always polite and mild mannered and surrounded himself with a good group of friends.
“He went to Colbert Heights for a long time and people here thought a lot of him,” Olivis said. “He was just a nice kid and you hate to think that something like this could happen.”
Riddle said Vandiver fit right in during his only year at Phil Campbell.
“He made several friends and just fit right in,” he said.
“He left mid-day every day to go to the career tech at Belgreen. He was real interested in that.”
Vandiver was also a volunteer with the Littleville Fire Department.
Officials said it appears the driver of the Jeep Grand Cherokee lost control of the vehicle and hit a culvert, which caused the jeep to flip end over end before crashing into a ditch.
Officials do not know at this point what caused the driver to lose control of the vehicle.
The wreck is still under investigation by the Littleville Police Department.
