11th victim found days after deadly crash on I-75

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — The body of an eleventh person has been found in a pickup truck days after a deadly pileup on Interstate 75, the Florida Highway Patrol said.

The victim was inside a Dodge pickup truck that crashed into a tractor trailer as it traveled south early Sunday, authorities determined Tuesday. The driver and another passenger in the pickup had not been identified early Wednesday.

The Highway Patrol on Tuesday released the name of an eighth person killed in the crash. Vontavia Kiara Robinson, 22, of Williston, was the driver of a Pontiac Grand Prix that was involved in the southbound crash around 4 a.m. Sunday. The name of a passenger who died in her car has not been released.

Authorities closed the busy six-lane highway just after midnight Sunday because a mix of fog and smoke from a nearby brush fire made visibility difficult. The road was reopened about three hours later after the Highway Patrol determined conditions had improved. The first pileup occurred a short time later.

At least a dozen cars, six tractor trailers and a motorhome collided. Some cars were crushed under the bellies of big rigs. Others burst into flames, making it difficult to identify victims.

The crash sent another 18 people to the hospital.

While Florida officials said they are willing to review their protocols in determining when to shut down — and reopen — a major highway. The Highway Patrol was also quick to point out that motorists must be prepared to quickly make good decisions because road conditions can change quickly.

Officials said the decision to close a road is made by a Highway Patrol supervisor, who relies on feedback from troopers who assess road conditions. They use information and forecasts from the National Weather Service. A key piece of information is an index estimating the humidity and smoke dispersion on a scale of 1 to 10. If the score is 7 or higher, the Highway Patrol's protocol is to close the road.

The index score for early Sunday had been forecast to be a 6 in the four-county region that includes the crash site, according to the National Weather Service.

Investigators continued piecing together details from Sunday's crash. The remaining bodies were so badly burned that dental records and vehicle identification numbers may have to be used to get positive identifications.

The dead included Georgia pastor Jose Carmo, his wife Adriana and their teenage daughter Leticia. Another daughter remained in the hospital with serious injuries.

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Friends Rally Around Karen Perry, Mom Who Lost Kids in Arizona Plane Crash

Friends are wrapping their arms around Karen Perry today after the Gold Canyon, Ariz., single mother had to face the loss of her three young children and ex-husband.

"You have survived so much already," friend Susan Steele wrote on Perry's public Facebook wall. "I cannot imagine what you are facing. I add my love and prayers to the many you have received. We are all here for you."

Perry, who was a pilot and currently works as a flight attendant with Delta Airlines, was described as a doting and selfless mother to her three children, Morgan, 9; Logan, 8; and Luke, 6.

Countless pictures of Perry having fun with her three children are posted on her Facebook, including Morgan and a kangaroo, a vacation with Logan in Hollywood and photos of Luke, who loved to pose, hamming it up for the camera.

"Such a camera ham," Perry wrote under a picture Luke took of himself.

Luke, who was the youngest, suffered from autism.

"My male mini me," Perry wrote under a picture of the two of them.

Morgan battled epilepsy and faced several brain surgeries.

"They were just great kids," Mark Blomgren, principal at the school the two oldest children attended, told the Arizona Republic. "All the teachers were naturally shocked. They cared about them and wondered how their mom was doing and they were just hit pretty hard. Logan and Morgan were just special kids that the teachers really bonded with."

The flight between Falcon Field in Mesa, Ariz., and Safford, Ariz., seemed to be a common one for the three kids.

Perry posted a picture of the twin-engine plane the children and her ex-husband, Shawn Perry, 39, rode on during that fateful Thanksgiving-eve crash in the Superstition Mountains.

"Just loaded up my kids on this turbine commander," she posted on Feb. 4, 2011. "Dad at the controls headed for Safford, AZ."

The twin-engine plane slammed into the Superstition Mountains at 200 mph shortly after takeoff on Wednesday, creating a fireball that was captured on video.

Pilot Russell Hardy, 31, and mechanic Joseph Hardwick, 22, who was engaged to be married on Dec. 16, were also on board.

Rescuers continued their search to recover remains and debris today, which they said was scattered throughout the steep, jagged terrain.

"It's a very arduous process, without being too descriptive, because of the explosion," Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu said Wednesday afternoon. "The remains are being handled with great care and compassion."

A team from the National Transportation Safety Board was also on hand today to investigate the crash.

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