PUTNAM COUNTY, GA — In a heartbreaking accident that has rocked this tight-knit community, an elderly couple known for their kindness and decades-long marriage were tragically killed on Wednesday afternoon when a Georgia Power truck turned in front of their vehicle. For James Abbott, 83, and his wife, Sara, 81, the end of their journey together came on a stretch of Ga. Route 16, also known as Sparta Highway, at its intersection with Pea Ridge Road—a notorious spot now marked by profound loss.
The devastating two-vehicle collision took place around 2:30 p.m. when a 2021 Ford F-150 pickup truck, owned by Georgia Power and driven by 26-year-old Matthew Crumbley of McDonough, attempted a left turn onto Pea Ridge Road. According to the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office, the truck pulled directly into the path of the Abbots’ 2018 Ford Flex, which Sara was driving eastbound on the main highway. The impact was immediate and catastrophic, crushing the couple’s vehicle.
The aftermath of the crash saw a frantic and ultimately failed struggle to save the inseparable couple. James Abbott, who was in the passenger seat, was pronounced dead at the scene shortly after 3 p.m. by Putnam County Coroner Hollis Harrison, succumbing instantly to blunt force trauma. Firefighters and EMS personnel immediately turned their attention to Sara, working urgently to extract her from the wreckage and prepare her for a medical airlift to a trauma center.
Tragically, even that desperate effort was too late. Sara passed away while being transported to the waiting helicopter, just moments before the flight could take off. Coroner Harrison pronounced her deceased at 4 p.m. Both victims, who lived on Bear Creek Road in the Twin Bridges area of Lake Sinclair, have been taken to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Crime Laboratory for autopsies to confirm the exact causes of death.
The driver of the Georgia Power truck, Matthew Crumbley, sustained injuries in the wreck but was taken to Atrium Health Navicent-The Medical Center in Macon for treatment and was expected to be released sometime on Thursday. However, authorities wasted no time in notifying him that he will face charges. Putnam County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Russell Blenk confirmed that Crumbley is charged with two counts of misdemeanor homicide by vehicle, along with failure to yield while making a left turn—all misdemeanor offenses under Georgia law.
This tragedy has sent ripples of grief across Putnam County, where the Abbots were deeply woven into the fabric of community life. They were remembered by neighbors as a kind, devoted pair, often seen side-by-side at church and local volunteer gatherings. Coroner Harrison, who has known the couple for decades, spoke of the profound difficulty of the situation for everyone involved, noting the collective heartbreak over the loss of such well-known and beloved residents.
As the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office and Georgia State Patrol continue their full investigation into the precise moments leading up to the crash, the intersection of Highway 16 and Pea Ridge Road remains a somber monument. It is a terrible reminder that a routine left turn, a fraction of a second’s error, can shatter lives forever and leave a community grappling with the immense, unimaginable loss of two of its own.
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