Suspicious Powder Found In Car Involved In Sand Springs Fatal Accident

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol is working a lead in an accident near Sand Springs that killed six people on Labor Day. There was a powder that might have been heroin in the car that caused the crash and

Monday, September 11th 2006, 9:51 am

By: News On 6

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol is working a lead in an accident near Sand Springs that killed six people on Labor Day. There was a powder that might have been heroin in the car that caused the crash and we now know the driver apparently had a history of drug possession.

News on 6 reporter Emory Bryan says the funerals are over, but the investigation is not. The Oklahoma Highway Patrol confirms now the discovery of two bags of a suspicious powder. They're having that tested and having the dead driver of one car examined to see if he had drugs in his system.

It was a horrific accident - three cars crashed together and caught fire - and six people died. It was the deadliest accident of the Labor Day weekend.

The accident happened on Highway 64 at 177th West Avenue. It's a 4 lane, divided highway. Three cars were involved - three people in the first car, four in the second and 1 in the third car.

Authorities say the first car was eastbound and crossed over the median and hit the second car head on. The third car ran into the wreckage and all three caught fire.

Of the 8 people in the accident, only two survived. Now the Oklahoma Highway Patrol confirms the discovery of a suspicious powder in one of the cars. The OHP says two bags of an unknown powder were found in the 1996 Buick that veered over and started the accident. The body of the driver is being tested to see if he might have been under the influence. The driver, 47 year old Thomas Kirby of Sand Springs, died in the wreck. He served time for assault, robbery and drug possession and was released from prison last Christmas. One of his passengers was also killed - 38 year old Lisa Adams, who also had served time for drug possession.

The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation is checking the suspicious powder found in the car and the state Medical Examiner did blood tests on the bodies. It will be weeks before the results of those tests are out.

Obviously, since the driver of the car that caused the collision is dead - the point of the investigation is not to prosecute anyone - but to simply answer the question of why it happened - for the families of all those who died.

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol has not reported anything unusual with the other two cars or the people in them.