A family outing turned to tragedy for an Athens couple Tuesday in Demorest. Felipe Reyes Musngi, 73, and his wife Gemma Musngi, 74, were returning home on Jan. 21 after visiting their daughter in North Carolina when they wrecked on GA-365.
Gemma Musngi died in the crash. Authorities say she was a passenger in a ’98 Toyota Four Runner that crashed around 3:30 p.m.
Senior Trooper John Crawford with Georgia State Patrol Post 7 in Toccoa says an eyewitness reported the Four Runner was traveling south on GA-365 when it drifted into the median just past Double Bridge Road. As the driver attempted to get the vehicle back onto the highway, the Four Runner rotated and spun out and went off the west shoulder of the road. It scrubbed the guardrail and overturned, striking several trees.
Crawford says both occupants were wearing seatbelts and the airbags in the vehicle deployed. Felipe Musngi sustained visible injuries. Habersham EMS transported him to Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville for treatment. His wife was pronounced dead at the scene. It took Habersham County Emergency personnel several hours to recover her body and clear the wreckage.
Traffic was backed up near the crash site for more than two hours. Both southbound lanes reopened shortly after 6 p.m.
While it’s unclear what caused the driver to run off the road, Crawford says alcohol was not involved. The Georgia State Patrol Specialized Collision Reconstruction Team (SCRT) is assisting with the investigation.
