A Kansas couple has died after the truck they were in slammed into a tree in Clearwater just one day after they were married, according to multiple reports.
The Sedgwick County Sheriff's Office said in a news release obtained by KAKE that deputies were called Saturday night to a report of a crash in Clearwater. When they arrived, they found a Ford pickup truck on its side by a tree.
Deputies said the truck’s driver, identified as 30-year-old Austin J. Wesson, lost control of the truck, left the roadway and hit the tree. It was not immediately clear what caused the crash.
Wesson was pronounced dead at the scene, according to KAKE. Authorities took the passenger in the truck, 19-year-old Rebekah C. Bouma, to a hospital. An official at Via Christi Hospital St. Francis told The Wichita Eagle that Bouma was pronounced dead around 12:30 a.m. Monday.
In a Facebook post, Bouma’s mother, Rachel Byker Bouma, asked for prayers for her and Wesson’s families.
“(Rebekah Bouma) is with the Lord that she loved so deeply and so joyfully and she is with her husband of just one day, Austin Wesson, whom she loved with all her heart,” Rachel Byker Bouma wrote. “We thank God that they are together while grieving their loss so very deeply.”
Rebekah Bouma attended Wichita's Trinity Academy, a nondenominational Christian high school, for her sophomore and junior years of high school, the Eagle reported.
"She was a delightful young lady," Trinity Academy academic dean Tony Ryff told the Eagle. "She was a great student, had great character and she loved people. She was the kind of person who looked for ways to encourage friendships among other young ladies."
Authorities continue to investigate the crash.
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