Funeral services for Symmes Valley High School student Jamie Lea Dills, who died in a traffic accident this weekend, will be Wednesday.

Tuesday, December 19, 2000

Funeral services for Symmes Valley High School student Jamie Lea Dills, who died in a traffic accident this weekend, will be Wednesday.

Miss Dills, 16, of Chesapeake, suffered fatal injuries Saturday after the 9:45 p.m. wreck about five miles out Ohio 775, Ohio Highway Patrol dispatchers said.

The accident injured three other teenagers, who were taken to St. Mary’s Hospital in Huntington, W.Va.

Miss Dills was driving a 1995 Plymouth Neon when it hit a 1986 Chevrolet S-10 pickup driven by 19-year-old Robert L. Gipson of South Point, OHP trooper Gene Folden said.

The Plymouth Neon was southbound on Ohio 775 just north of the five-mile marker when it left the right edge of the roadway, Folden said.

"Upon driving off the right edge of the roadway, the driver then overcorrected back onto the roadway and slid left-of-center and struck the 1986 Chevrolet pickup head-on," he said.

The two vehicles hit and stopped on impact, the trooper said.

The passenger of the Plymouth, 16-year-old Anna B. Freeman, had to be extracted from the vehicle because that side absorbed most of the damage, Folden said.

Proctorville volunteer firefighters freed Miss Freeman from the wreckage by removing the passenger side door and top of the car, he said.

Southeast Ohio Emergency Medical Services transported her, and Gipson and a 19-year-old passenger in Gipson’s vehicle, Virginia R. Mannon of Proctorville, to St. Mary’s Hospital. Miss Dills was transported to River Valley Health System, where she was pronounced dead on arrival, Folden said.

"There were no seat belts in use in either vehicle during the crash," he said.

Gipson and Miss Mannon were expected to be released Sunday. Miss Freeman was listed in stable condition, Folden said.

The cause of the accident remains under investigation. No citations were issued at the time of the crash, the trooper said.

Miss Dills was the daughter of Craig and Janice France Dills of Chesapeake.

Funeral will be 1 p.m. Wednesday at Schneider-Slack Funeral Home.

Burial will be in Miller Memorial Gardens.

Visitation will be 6-9 p.m. today at the funeral home.