PENDER COUNTY — Troopers with the North Carolina State Highway Patrol are investigating a wreck in Pender County that killed two women and injured two men Monday afternoon.
According to Highway Patrol 1st Sgt. W.L. Thurston, Debra Bass Potter, 62, of Salemburg, and her mother in-law, Juanita Faye Potter, 74, of Clinton, died just before 3 p.m. Monday in a two-vehicle wreck on U.S. 421 about 11 miles northeast of Burgaw.
Thurston said three passengers in a 2009 Chevrolet were traveling north on U.S. 421 when the vehicle went left of center and struck an 18-wheel log truck traveling in the opposite direction.
Thurston said the log truck ran off the northbound lane of U.S. 421 and overturned. The driver, Jeremiah Lee, 62, of Maple Hill, suffered minor injuries and was taken to Pender Memorial Hospital for treatment.
Debra Bass Potter was driving the car when it collided with the truck on U.S. 421, Thurston said.
Her husband, 56-year-old Donald Ray Potter, also from Salemburg, was riding in the passenger seat and was injured during the wreck, Thurston said. Donald Potter was taken to New Hanover Regional Medical center for treatment.
“We’re expecting him to survive his injuries,” Thurston said.
Thurston said both vehicles were traveling the speed limit and alcohol was not suspected to be a contributing factor in the wreck.
