Woman dies, 2 recovering after sign crushes car in parking lot of Denny's in Elizabethtown

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A 72-year-old woman is dead after a car with three people inside was crushed by a falling sign in the parking lot of a Denny's in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Thursday afternoon. 

Elizabethtown Police Det. Chris Denham told WDRB News it happened about 1:30 p.m. at the Denny's on Mulberry Street, which is just east of Interstate 65. 

All three adults, a man and two women, were in the car. All three had to be extricated by the fire department.

Denham said one of the women was transported by EMS to University of Louisville Hospital in Louisville with critical injuries. He confirmed to WDRB News around 7:40 p.m. Thursday that the woman, a 72-year-old, had passed away.

The coroner says the woman was Lillian Curtis. The victim's granddaughter, Amy Nichols, confirmed to WDRB News that the woman was her grandmother. She said her grandmother was in the back seat of the vehicle and that doctors described her head wound as "catastrophic."

Nichols said her grandfather, Lloyd Curtis, who was in the front passenger seat, had been released from Jewish Hospital three days ago after having open heart surgery. She said he was rushed back to the hospital with "fluid on his lungs" among "other injuries" and was waiting to be transferred back to Jewish Hospital. Nichols said her mother, Mary Graham, was driving the vehicle with her parents inside and "sustained a chest injury but is okay" and had been released from the hospital.

According to Nichols, the family was headed home to Columbia, Kentucky, and was driving in the Denny's parking lot when the sign fell.

A GoFundMe page has been set up by the family to help cover costs of a memorial service for Lillian Curtis. 

Denham said he believes intense wind gusts contributed to knocking the sign from its base, sending it crashing down onto the vehicle below. 

WDRB News Chief Meteorologist Marc Weinberg says 49 mph wind gusts were reported Thursday in Elizabethtown.

Images from WDRB News viewers showed the sign on top of the vehicle with first responders nearby. Crews removing the sign from the scene said it weighed about 2,600 pounds, which is about the weight of a small car.

After the sign fell, a smaller sign on the same pole was reinforced by a local sign company.

According to Elizabethtown City Code, signs like the one that fell are required to be built and maintained up to the state's standards. WDRB News has requested city records regarding permits for signs at this location as well as other documents showing maintenance history. City officials have not yet responded to our request.

A video of the Denny's sign falling can be viewed below:

This story will be updated as more information becomes available. 

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