Father and Two Daughters, Driver of Second Car Killed in Nash County Crash

Officials hope a reconstruction team will find clues as to who is at fault for the crash that killed four people.

Eleazar Campos of Middlesex and his two daughters, Vanessa Campos-Duran, 6, and 11-month-old Melissa Campos-Duran, were killed in one car. Campos' wife, Veronica Rodriguez-Duran, who was driving the car, was listed in critical condition at Pitt Hospital in Greenville.

The driver of the other car, Henry Mullen of Middlesex, was also killed in the crash. Mullen was a businessman who recently took ownership of a racing team.

"He just loved helping to get that operation off the ground," says pastor Andy Cockrell.

The Highway Patrol says Mullen's Lexus collided head-on with the Ford Escort near Highway 264-A and Stone Heritage Road just after 8 p.m. Investigators say the cause of the crash remains under investigation.

Officials say that neither of Campos' children was properly restrained.

"We had an 11-month-old child who was in a child safety seat, but the seat was not secured," said Cpt. R.L. Hayes of the State Highway Patrol. "The six-year-old child did not have a seat belt on."

People with theGovernor's Highway Safety Programsay it is hard enough hearing about young lives cut short. They say it is even tougher when it could have been prevented.

"Unless you describe it in pretty graphic ways to people, they really don't imagine it will ever happen to them," says Highway Safety spokeswoman Jill Lucas.

Troopers say the Highway Patrol offers instruction on buckling children in properly, including the BIBS program. Between 70 and 90 percent of children in safety seats are not buckled in correctly.

The state House is expected to make a final vote Friday on a measure that will cost a drivertwo license pointsif children are not buckled up. It would require children under 16 to wear seat belts and those under five to ride in a child-safety seat.