Mother and four children killed in rural Sedgwick County wreck, officials say

The five people killed in a two-vehicle wreck Friday were a mother and her children, the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office said Saturday.

Jessica Noel, 32, of Viola was driving a Ford Expedition south on 263rd Street West — in between Cheney and Clearwater —when the driver of a semitrailer loaded with grain ran a stop sign while headed east on 71st Street South, according to the sheriff’s office.

“The Expedition struck the trailer causing it ... to (split) into two pieces,” Lt. Benjamin Blick said. “The Expedition came to a rest in the southeast ditch at the intersection.”

Noel and three of her children — Jeffrey Thompson III, Hank Thompson and Anaiah Brady — all died at the scene, the sheriff’s office said. Mack Thompson died after being taken to Wesley Medical Center with critical injuries.

Blick said the children are all under the age of 18. Emergency communications said at least one of the deaths was a child under 10 years old.

The 31-year-old Argonia man driving the semitrailer wasn’t injured.

The wreck was reported at 4:48 p.m.

This story was originally published September 25, 2020 at 5:35 PM.