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Women In Fatal Crash Near I-75 Rest Stop Identified

News Channel 8 photo by RUGENE MOORE

This 2005 Toyota veered off Interstate 75 and struck the back of a parked tractor-trailer, the Florida Highway Patrol said.

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TBO.com

Published: November 7, 2008

Updated: 11/07/2008 03:56 pm

All lanes of Interstate 75 north have been reopened after a deadly crash this morning near a rest stop in Land O' Lakes.

Two women were heading north in the inside lane on I-75 about 2:30 a.m. when their 2005 Toyota apparently drifted off the road, Sgt. Steve Gaskins with the Florida Highway Patrol said.

Maria Ramsey, 21, of Lutz, overcorrected and struck the back of a tractor-trailer parked on the shoulder at mile marker 277, Gaskins said. She and Brittany L. Nation, 22, of Land O' Lakes died at the scene.

The driver of the truck, 38-year-old Michael Kelton, told investigators he had parked the truck so he could sleep for a while. Kelton, who was not injured, was the one who called 911 to report the crash, Gaskins said. The truck is owned by Patterson Trucking of Russellville, Ala.

The Florida Highway Patrol closed the outside lane of I-75 north for more than three hours while troopers collected evidence.

The patrol does not think fog played a role in the crash, Gaskins said.

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