Olney Mother, Daughter Die in Florida Car Crash

Two Olney women died at 8:08 p.m. Sunday (November 9, 2003) in a two-vehicle crash on U.S. 27, 20 miles south of Leesburg, Florida.

Donna Sue Bemount, 51 of Olney was driving a Ford Escort south on the highway with her daughter, Amy K. Bemount, 23, when she attempted to make a left turn to access the Florida Turnpike, said Trooper Kim Miller of the Florida Highway Patrol. Neither woman was wearing a seatbelt she said.

A man driving a Ford S/50 pickup truck north o U.S. 27 struck the Bemount car in the passenger side door, Miller said. The two Olney women were dead at the scene, she said.

“It was a very violent crash” Miller said. “The driver of the truck was not injured. Speeding was not a factor. The intersection has a green arrow and a solid green light and a witness said the light was a solid gren at the time of the accident.”

Drivers in both directions have a clear unobstructed view of U.S. 27, she said.

Donna and her daughter Amy were headed to Orlando for a family vacation with Amy’s sister, who is from Missouri. The two were about 35 miles from their destination, when they made a left to get onto Florida Turnpike for the last leg of their journey.

That’s when a pickup traveling north slammed their little Ford Escort broadside, killing mother and daughter instantly.

Donna, 51, a rural mail carrier from Olney, Illinois was behind the wheel when she misjudged the distance or speed of the oncoming truck.

The Orlando Sentinel, Orlando, FL – Sunday, November 9, 2003 & Herald & Review, Decatur, IL – October 23, 2003

Donna S. (Giese) Bemount, 51, of Olney, and her daughter, Amy Kay Bemount died Sunday, October 19, 2003 in Lake County, Fla., the result of a vehicle accident.

Services at Summers-Kistler Funeral Home with Reverend Charles McDonald officiating.Burial in Haven Hill Cemetery in Olney.

Mrs. Bemount was born on April 14, 1952, the daughter of Donald Wayne and Lorine (Adams) Giese.

She was employed by the United States Postal Service in Olney and was a member of Parkersburg United Methodist Church.

Mrs. Bemount is survived by a daughter, Angie Bigard and her husband, Sean, of St. Charles, Mo.; and a sister, Mary Sanders and her husband, Chuck of Elgin.

She was preceded in death by her parents and twin infant sisters.

Published in Olney Daily Mail (IL) - October 21, 2003