A 71-vehicle pileup in Kansas left 8 people dead. Here are their stories
Eight people died and dozens of others were injured on March 14 in a multi-vehicle pile-up crash during a dust storm along I-70 in western Kansas.
Among those lost were a construction worker who supported his family, a cancer survivor whose dad was killed by Saddam Hussein’s regime, an avid soccer fan who loved his wife and four daughters, a college student set to graduate and a lifelong farmer and rancher who gave big hugs.
Here’s a glimpse into the lives of those eight people.
Larry Dean Smith, 72, Sharon Springs, Kansas
Larry Smith was known for his big hugs.
The 72-year-old Sharon Springs man was a lifelong farmer and rancher, who had a “deep love for the land and spent countless hours caring for his cattle,” his obituary says.
An 18-minute photo reel in his online obituary shows him frequently wearing overalls and donning a beard. The obituary and comments people left on it often mention his hugs.
“He was a gentle giant and had a huge, kind heart,” his obituary says. “He was one of the Good ‘ole Boys whose bear hugs will be truly missed.”
Denee Elfeldt, Smith’s niece, wrote that she always looked forward to his hugs.
“Uncle Larry was the best,” she wrote. “For a long time, I was the only niece he had and he spoiled me.”
Smith’s obituary also mentions the ornery side he had as a kid and that “never did quite end.” One such story was from Gerald Smith, who graduated from Weskan High School with Larry Smith in 1971. The two were linemen on the football team together, and their coach filled in at quarterback during a scrimmage.
“When Larry was playing defense, we hatched a plan to let Larry through for a quarterback sack,” Gerald Smith recalled. “Guess what happened after he sacked him! Larry sat on him!”
Stephanie D. Purcell, 61, Evansville, Indiana
Alexis Price hopes one day to be half as good a mother as her own. Her mom, Stephanie Purcell, raised three children as a stay-at-home mother while Price’s dad worked before they started their own business together.
Purcell is survived by her husband Brian, three children, her mother, three siblings and lots of nieces and nephews. One sister, 58-year-old Denise Allison, was on her way to Denver with Purcell when the wreck happened. They were headed to see another sister and her family and Purcell’s children.
Allison had to undergo multiple surgeries from the crash, but is now home and recovering in Evansville.
“Long-term prognosis is good,” her brother, Gregg Purcell said, adding she is expected to recover.
Gregg Purcell said some of his fondest memories from childhood were his big sister, the oldest of the four and 11 years older than him, taking him along with her.
“I just remember being the little kid that got invited sometimes to be in her circle, which was kind of cool,” he said. “Listen to music with her. Go to get food with her … it’s little things like that for me.”
He said she had a big presence, stood for equality, wasn’t afraid to speak her opinion and took the lead as the oldest sibling. After Stephanie Purcell’s death, he learned “she was that person in everyone’s circle.”
Price said her mother loved playing pinball, going to live concerts, breweries and playing trivia.
Stephanie Purcell had been married to her husband Brian, for nearly 36 years. Through Price, he gave this message:
‘To tell anyone who reads this … to just go home and hug your family because you never know if it is going to be the last time.”
Price said her mother ran ragged keeping the house going and running the children to various sporting events, where she was their biggest cheerleader.
“And I don’t know how she juggled three kids at different sporting events all the time. That is truly incredible. So, just the overall aspect of what being a mother is, she was that, and it’s truly a beautiful thing to be able to share with others.”
“And you know, one day, I hope to be half as good as what she did.”
A fund has been set up at Old National Bank for the “benefit of the Price family” and the “benefit of the Allison family.”
Hani Sami Stefan, 60, Troy, Michigan
Hani Sami Stefan, who went by Giovanni, was driving home to Michigan after making a delivery in Denver in time for his wife and mother’s mutual birthdays the next day when he was involved in the wreck.
Stefan’s cousins said he loved his family and worked a plethora of trades to make sure they were cared for, while also using his skills to be the handyman for family and friends in the tight-knit community of people who migrated from the middle east to Michigan.
“He was a survivor,” cousin Fred Toma said. “He was a hustler.”
Toma and his older brother, Farris Toma, named a life of struggle that Stefan had risen above: growing up poor in Baghdad while living in a family persecuted for being Christian, losing his father at a young age after he was killed by Saddam Hussein’s regime, survived multiple improvised explosive devices while serving as an interpreter during the Iraq War and then brain cancer.
Manuel Alarcon, 57, Dodge City, Kansas
Manuel Alarcon was an avid soccer fan who enjoyed listening to music and gardening, his obituary says.
He was always “smiling and in a great mood no matter what,” a co-worker wrote on Facebook.
Born in 1967 and raised in Chichihualco, Mexico, Alarcon moved to the U.S. in 1990 and then Dodge City in 1995.
He married his wife, Ana Lidia Millan, in July 1989, and went on to have four daughters, his obituary says.
Alacron worked for Cargill and then Blue Sage, an oil construction company, and was a member of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Dodge City.
“Manuel had many blessings in his life, and he knew that he was blessed in various ways,” pastor Wesley Schawe said at a funeral mass. “He had a humble life.”
Alacron is survived by his wife and daughters, whom he loved spending time with, his obituary says.
Mario Juarez, 31, Garden City, Kansas
Mario Juarez was born in 1992 and immigrated from a small village in Guatemala to Mexico and then to the United States for a better life.
He lived in Garden City and worked in construction, according to an obituary.
“He was a very hard worker and helped support much of his family,” an obituary said. “He enjoyed spending time with family and friends.”
His youngest brother, Rene Juarez Juarez, shared a glimpse of his brother’s life during a March funeral mass at St. Mary Catholic Church in Garden City.
The brothers lost their mother when Mario was a teenager.
“When we were little kids, we didn’t know anything about life or what to do,” Rene Juarez said. “After losing our mother, our older sister raised us.”
Mario eventually moved to Mexico in search of work. Rene later joined him.
“We shared beautiful moments,” Rene Juarez said. “We’d go to the beach and play soccer. He wasn’t very open with his life, but he would tell me some things. I know there are things he wanted to do, but now he can’t. Only God knows what they were.”
An obituary photo shows Mario Juarez at a job site smiling while standing in front of a crude oil silo.
He will be taken back and buried in his native Guatemala, according to the obituary.
Mario Juarez is survived by his father and seven siblings.
Dawson Hogan, 20, Salina
Dawson Hogan had a promising future. He was getting ready to enter his final semester of college before graduating to become an electrician.
A natural athlete and dubbed “ultimate competitor,” he dabbled in baseball, wrestling and football, and went on to wrestle for Fort Hays Northwest Tech.
“When we were younger, everything was always competitive, just because we were so close in age, and he was my first little brother,” his older brother Dakota Hogan said. “I remember he was scared of me, where I was always chasing him around the house because I had the advantage. He started getting older and bulking up. I was like man, I’m kind of scared of you now.”
Dawson was heading back to Salina from Goodland for spring break when he was killed.
Dakota recalled his little brother being his best friend and the two spending a lot of time with their family and friends.
“We’d always have all of his friends here and all of my friends would come over and hang out, play pool in our basement,”
“We’d always have movie nights here with our siblings,” Dakota Hogan said. “We were with each other every single day. He was my built-in best friend.”
Carlos Arzate, 48, Shattuck, Oklahoma
Carlos Arzate was born on June 6, 1976.
He was “an amazing person,” one friend posted online. “We will never forget you!!! Forever in my heart, always on my mind.”
A family member wrote, “Carlos, you will be missed by me, because you were always very nice and respectful to me. I can’t believe you are gone. May you R.I.P.”
Baiel Sharshembiev, 24, Philadelphia
Sharshembiev, who was 24 at the time of the crash, was driving a 2015 Volvo truck with a trailer that appears to have had a Maine plate, according to the Kansas Highway Patrol.