A fifth person has died as a result of a wreck involving three vehicles Friday on Interstate 77 in Surry County.
Bryan Mowry, 59, of Hickory, was pronounced dead yesterday morning at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, hospital officials and the N.C. Highway Patrol said.
Four people died on Friday: Wayne P. Hicks, 44, of Jamaica, N.Y.; his wife, Natalie, 38; their son Wayne Jr., 9; and their daughter Natalya, 2.
The parents were in the front seat of the vehicle, a Toyota Sienna minivan, and the two children who died were in the middle seats.
Three other children were in the minivan, all of them in the back seat: Elijah Hicks, 9; John Hicks, 6; and Josiah Hicks, 4.
They were taken to Baptist Medical Center after the accident, but their conditions were not available yesterday evening.
The Hicks family was on its way to a family reunion in Alabama.
The wreck happened about 9 a.m. Friday in the northbound lane of I-77 near the 88 mile marker.
Troopers think that Wayne Hicks fell asleep at the wheel of the minivan, crossed the median, and hit a Toyota Tacoma pickup and a Nissan Altima.
The accident is still under investigation, said First Sgt. Justin Dodson with the Highway Patrol.
"We are not going to leave any stone unturned," he said.
Mowry was one of two people in the pickup.
The driver of the pickup was his wife, Sandra Mowry, 57. She was listed in critical condition at Baptist Medical Center yesterday evening.
The driver of the Nissan Altima was Bonnie Casstevens Weddle, 49, of Surry County. She was treated and released from Hugh Chatham Memorial Hospital in Elkin.
Martha Turman, who saw what happened, told WGHP/FOX8 that she saw the back end of a van pull onto the interstate.
The truck hit the van and the momentum carried them into a car on the right-hand side.
"It was heartbreaking, because there was nothing you could do," Turman said. "At this point, I hope everybody says a prayer for these children tonight and that they have the support they need."
The interstate was closed in both directions for several hours while emergency workers cleared the wreckage and took people to hospitals.
Capt. Everett Clendenin, a spokesman for the N.C. Highway Patrol in Raleigh, said that one of the children in the minivan said he saw his father fall asleep behind the wheel before the accident.
■ Tim Clodfelter can be reached at 727-7371 or at tclodfelter@wsjournal.com.
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