Family and church community members confirm three out of seven people who died in a head-on crash Friday were a pastor as well as his wife and two-year-old son.
According to the pastor's father, the victims are 34-year-old Shannon Wheaton, his partner Trena and their toddler Benjamin. The family is originally from Frederickton, Newfoundland.
CTV News is told one of two survivors from the fiery wreck is the couple's other child, Timothy. The four-year-old is said to be recovering in hospital from minor injuries.
According to RCMP, the wreck happened around 1 p.m. Friday on Highway 63, a stretch of road that runs between Edmonton and Fort McMurray. RCMP believe a northbound truck carrying three people attempted to pass another vehicle, when it collided with a southbound truck carrying six people. Both trucks burst into flames upon impact.
Officials say originally, three people survived the crash - a 34-year-old man, a teenage girl and a young boy. The adolescent, however, died from her injuries Friday evening.
Pastor Robert Parsons says Wheaton worked as a children's pastor at the Windor Pentecostal Church in Grand Fall, Newfoundland, up until a couple years ago. He describes his former colleague as "a family man… someone who loved children… and gave his heart and soul to his work."
Wheaton was working as a pastor at a Pentecostal Church in Fort McMurray. Many people could be seen crying inside the Family Christian Centre on Saturday, where they gathered to grieve the news.
RCMP say alcohol and speed have both been ruled out as factors in the crash, though the investigation continues.
More to Come…
