Woman Live-Tweets Crash That Killed Her Husband

Caran Johnson was known locally for tweeting traffic coverage
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 5, 2013 7:00 AM CST
Updated Dec 7, 2013 4:49 PM CST

Beneath Caran Johnson's Twitter handle sits this now-eerie description: "Tweeting the crazy things that happen in the 'Couve." The Vancouver, Washington-area resident tweets as @ScanCouver, an account that KATU reports she uses in part to cover traffic alerts and 911 calls in the area. Wednesday afternoon started out no different, with Johnson retweeting a local paper's tweets about an accident on I-205. When the Columbian tweeted that a fatality was confirmed, the mother of two replied "omg that is so horrible!!!" then went on to admonish two cars that "went around officer blocking onramp to I205S. lame-o's!" (The Columbian reports that Johnson often listened in on emergency scanner traffic using a computer app, and had been listening to scanners since college.)

But minutes later, her tweets turned highly personal and incredibly painful. Select tweets:

  • I'm trying not to panic, but my husband left work early and he drives 205 to get home. he's not answering his phone.
  • and he's late.
  • @Col_cops @wspd5pio do you have descriptions of involved vehicles?
  • I just called his work and he was feeling faint when he left work. #panic
  • i just called 911 and they transferred me after I gave them his license number and told me that they will call me back. wtf?
  • and now my kids are home from school...
  • He's the one I go to for things like this...
  • it's him. he died
The Columbian reports that Craig Johnson's Hyundai crossed a grassy median and hit a pick-up head-on. The driver of that car is hospitalized in satisfactory condition. Police are still investigating the cause. A fund has been set up for the family here. (It's been a tough week for crashes: An HGTV host died in a motorcycle accident on Monday.)

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