Barry Jackson, 60, of McCaysville, and Michael Waits, 65, of Epworth were both killed Monday night, February 17, in a three-vehicle crash on Highway 5 south of McCaysville.
Fannin County Coroner Becky Callihan confirmed the identities of the victims Friday, and said both were pronounced dead at the scene.
According to Captain Crystal Zion, public information officer for the Department of Public Safety, a Georgia State Patrol trooper responded to the crash on Georgia 5 near Galloway Road at approximately 7:55 p.m.
Waits was driving a 2004 Ford F-550 flatbed pickup south when it hit head on with a 1992 Toyota Landcruiser that was traveling north.
Zion said after the impact the Landcruiser was pushed backward and traveled off the east shoulder of the roadway, down an embankment, overturned and came to rest on its top.
The Ford F-550 then struck a 2020 Jeep Gladiator that was traveling north, overturned and came to rest on its top in both lanes of the highway. Jackson was ejected from the vehicle.
The Jeep Gladiator came to rest on the east shoulder of the highway.
Lynne Policaro, 62, from Griffin, Georgia, and Belkys Jimenez, 52, from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the drivers of the Landcruiser and Gladiator, were both airlifted to area hospitals in serious condition, Zion said.
Georgia State Route 5 was closed for approximately three hours.
The Georgia State Patrol’s Specialized Crash Reconstruction Team assisted Blue Ridge Post 27 in the investigation.
The details of the crash are still preliminary, Zion said.