PREBLE COUNTY — An area community is reacting after a deputy and another driver were killed in a crash in Preble County Monday morning.
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State troopers say that Preble County Sheriff’s Deputy Josh Hamilton, 34, of Eldorado, and Michael Gayheart, 36 of West Elkton were both pronounced dead at the scene of the crash in the 4400 block of State Route 503.
News Center 7′s Taylor Robertson was on the scene not long after the crash and talked to community members about this great loss.
>> PHOTOS: Deputy, second driver killed in head-on crash in Preble County
“With Christmas coming on, I’m really so sorry to the family,” said Lindsay Collins, a West Alexandria resident. “It’s just, it’s heartbreaking no matter who it is.”
Collins said her son left for work around 4:12 a.m. this morning.
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“He said that he came up on the crash and had to go the other way,” she said.
She said the thought of what happened was really scary.
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“We are such a small community that everyone pretty much knows everyone you know, and everyone pretty much gets along with everyone,” Collins said.
This is the same thing Marlene Crouse told News Center 7. She said the sirens flying past her home woke her up this morning.
“And I couldn’t think of who in the world was out you know, having an accident,” Crouse said. “I knew it was serious.”
Crouse said she’s lived here for 70 years and knows many of the deputies.
“Being close neighborhood county everybody usually knows who that person is,” she said. “It’s a very sad day here at Christmas time for the family.”
The crash remains under investigation.