Exclusive: Mother of girl trapped in car for two days speaks out

COVE CITY, N.C. – The family of a girl that survived two days trapped in a car speak out about the dangers of curve they say has caused multiple wrecks.

The curve at Turkey Quarter Creek Road off of Highway 55 in Craven County has left a hole in Claudette Leohmann's life.

"Now my kids are without a father and it could have been prevented," said Leohmann during an exclusive interview with Nine On Your Side.

It could have been prevented, she says, by a guard rail that would have stopped the 1995 Chevy Monte Carlo carrying her 9-year-old daughter Jordan and Jordan's father, Doug, from landing upside down in a cement ravine.

The car was hidden from view for two days.

"Nobody - the rescue, the highway patrol - nobody saw Doug's car.  So if there was a guard rail there, we would have known," said Tyker Gonzales, a family friend.

Gonzales says two more accidents Wednesday morning show the importance of things like guard rails and how they can mean the difference between life and death.

"If you hit that you're going to bounce back at least.  [Doug] would have made it to the stop sign to call me or he would have walked home.  He was right there," said Leohmann.

She says a tire blew and that caused Doug Landon to lose control at the curve near their home.  Without the guard rails, the car went over the embankment.

Leohmann says, Doug Landon died instantly while shielding his daughter.  Jordan Landon survived two days, trapped in the car, eating pop tarts and Gatorade.

"You sit in a car with a deceased loved one for a few days and you're not going to be ok... No, we're not ok," said Leohmann when we asked how Jordan was doing.

The 9-year-old didn’t want to talk with us on camera, but said plenty when we turned the camera off.  She’s afraid to ride in a car at night, afraid to go over a bridge and afraid to think about those two days alone.

Doug Landon leaves behind four children and Leohmann says the hardest part is telling her younger children their father isn't coming home.

"It doesn't work.  It doesn't work to take their excuses and try to put a family back together," she said.

A family now added to a long list of more than 20 wrecks, Leohmann says, the curve has claimed.

"That was unnecessary, completely unnecessary.  Not just today’s, yesterday’s, every other days, Doug, every wreck that's been there has been unnecessary," said Leohmann.

Gonzales says a member of the Department of Transportation told her they agree it's a dangerous curve but they’re unsure if there is enough shoulder space to build a guard rail.

"We've lived out here over 20 years and there's been wreck and wreck," said Gonzales.

Wednesday's double accident along Highway 55 and Turkey Quarter Creek Road comes as no surprise to Tyker Gonzales.

"It doesn't matter; when it rains it's bad; when it's night it's bad; it's just a very sharp, dangerous curve with a big drop off," said Gonzales.

Around 8 a.m. Wednesday a ford pick-up collided with a volunteer firefighter’s personal truck parked in the middle of the highway.

The firefighter was directing traffic as they cleaned up an earlier accident along the curve.  He got out of the way, just in time.

"You really have to be on your P's and Q's when going around this curve," said Gonzales.

There are no warning signs, no reflector lights, only metal rods, so Gonzales contacted the department of transportation asking for guard rails.

Something Leohmann says could have saved the life of the man she's loved for 22-years.

"He was my daughter's guardian angel and God was guiding him and God took him instead of her, but how many more have to go?" she said.  "There's four kids left behind wondering why Dad isn't coming home... But there could be a guard rail there and he could be home."

The department of transportation is investigating the curve near Turkey Quarter Creek Road.

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COVE CITY, N.C. - It's been close to a month since 9-year-old Jordan Landon and her father were trapped in a car after running off Highway 55 near Turkey Quarter Creek Road near Cove City.

Today, two more accidents just yards away sent two people to the hospital.

Around close to 8 o'clock this morning, a car pulling onto Highway 55 off Wetherington Farm Road pulled in front of a van on 55.

That was the first accident that Township 9 emergency teams responded to.

They blocked the road at Turkey Quarter Creek Road when 15 minutes later a Ford pick-up came around the corner on 55 and collided with a firefighters personal vehicle, a Chevy Canyon, head on.

The firefighter was not in his vehicle. He was able to jump out of the way.  But the driver of the Ford pick-up and the van from the prior accident were taken to the hospital in New Bern for treatment.

Both victims are considered to have minor injuries.

We’ll highlight the dangers of the highway near Turkey Quarter Creek Road tonight on Eyewitness News 9.