They were going to the carnival. On the Fourth of July, Kevin Chittum and Whitney Rogers filled the back seat of Whitney's used Honda with excited children and set off for the state fair. When Linda Rogers imagines them all driving down Interstate 81, she told the minister recently, she sees the children all happily arguing about which rides to go on first and her daughter Whitney, ever the cheerleader, leaning over the seat, egging them on. It started to rain after they left about 5 that afternoon, a heavy summer rain, and the Honda suddenly hydroplaned into oncoming traffic. It hit a tanker truck, and both careered off an overpass onto Route 11 below.
Police believe the accident took four seconds.
Everyone was killed. Joseph Grow, first cousin of Linda Rogers and pastor of Belle Grove Chapel, where the Chittums attend church, performed the funeral. More than a thousand mourners filled the biggest church in town and spilled over into the fellowship hall and parking lot. At least every time she looks into those babies' eyes, she'll see her daughter. Less than a month later, when the dirt on the graves was still too fresh and soft and the silk flowers too bright and new, Linda Rogers found herself begging the medical team U-Va. had sent to her door.