Skip to main content
Partly Cloudy icon
37º

Authorities identify two drivers killed in I-81S crash in Roanoke County

Charges are pending

Two dead after tractor-trailer crash in Roanoke County

Authorities have identified the two drivers killed in a crash on I-81 South in Roanoke County last week.

At about 5:23 p.m. on Jan. 20, police responded to a multi-vehicle crash on the southbound lanes of I-81 at the 132-mile marker.

Recommended Videos



According to state police, a 2015 tractor-trailer was going south on I-81 when it hit the back of a 2005 Hyundai Sonata. The Hyundai then spun out in the southbound lanes and overturned.

The 2015 tractor-trailer then hit a 2004 Chevy Impala, which then rear-ended a 2017 tractor-trailer, authorities said. State Police said the 2017 tractor-trailer then pulled off onto the right shoulder as the 2015 tractor-trailer hit the Hyundai a second time, before the Hyundai collided with the 2017 tractor-trailer.

Authorities said the impact of the crash caused the two passenger vehicles, a Chevrolet Impala and a Hyundai, to catch fire.

Police said the driver of the Chevrolet, 61-year-old Janet Ridenhour of Roanoke, and the driver Hyundai, 60-year-old Gary King of Christiansburg, died at the scene. They were the only occupants of their respective vehicles.

According to state police, the drivers of the two tractor-trailers involved in the crash were not severely hurt.

Authorities said charges are pending and the crash remains under investigation, but they do not believe alcohol was a factor in the crash.