Fiery Head-on Crash on US 27 Claims Two Lives

A Sebring woman driving north in the southbound lanes of US 27 was the apparent cause of a head-on crash Thursday night that claimed her life and that of a second motorist.

According to Polk County Sheriff's Traffic Homicide investigators, a witness to the crash confirmed that a black 2021 Toyota Corolla had been heading northbound in the left southbound lane of US 27 at about 10 p.m. A separate call to the emergency 911 system reported that a wrong-way driver was traveling northbound at a high rate of speed.

Courtesy Polk County Sheriff's Traffic Homicide Unit

Two died and a third was left in critical condition due to a head-on crash due to a wrong-way driver Thursday night. The right-way vehicle was southbound in the left-hand lane.

The Corolla met head-on with a red Nissan Altima was heading south in the left southbound lane approximately ¼ mile north of the intersection with Bay Street in the Sun Ray neighborhood of unincorporated Frostproof. The crash is the latest in a series of fatal crashes that have occurred in the immediate area.

The horrific impact sent both vehicles spinning. The Toyota immediately caught fire, according to investigators. It came to a final rest facing north in the left turn southbound lane and the 41-year-old Sebring woman who was driving it was killed.

The Nissan rotated clockwise 90 degrees and came to a final rest in the outside lane, facing west. The driver of the Altima, a 32-year-old Kissimmee man, was ejected from his car and also died at the scene, It was unclear whether he had been wearing a seatbelt.

According to investigators, a passenger was in the Nissan. That 31-year-old Kissimmee resident "who is believed to be either his spouse or girlfriend (they live at the same address), suffered critical injuries, and had to be extricated from the car and was airlifted as a trauma alert to a local hospital." She remains in critical but stable condition.

US 27 was closed for several hours overnight as the crash investigation took place and the vehicles were removed from the scene.