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Wednesday, January 11, 1995

Florida teen identified as third victim of crash


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By Jack King
Staff Writer

PECOS, Jan. 11, 1995 - The Texas Department of PUblic safety said today
it has identified a third victim of a crash on Interstate 20 on Jan. 4
in which four persons died.

The third victim has been identified as Amanda Harkins, 17, of
Tallahassee, Fla., Harkin's next of kin have been notified.

On Monday, DPS identified two other victims of the crash as Jeremy
Newell, 21, and Stanislav Yampolsky, 20, both of Atlanta, GA.

Harkins, Newell and Yampolsky were all passengers in a 1994 Accura
Legend which collided with an tractor-trailer on I-20 about 11 miles
west of Toyah shortly before noon last Wednesday. The car exploded on
impact and the passengers were burned beyond recognition in the ensuing
fire.

The wreck was so severe that it was only after a pathologist examined
the remains that DPS was able to report there were four people in the
vehicle. Pathologists at the University Medical Center in Lubbock said
three men and a women were the passengers in the vehicle.

Since then, DPS troopers have been engaged in a lengthily process of
contacting families and identifying the victims through dental records.

At least one member of the group, Yampolsky, was a student at the
University of California, Los Angeles, and a DPS spokesperson said
Monday that UCLA police have contacted DPS and offered to lend any aid
they could in identifying the victims.

Yampolsky's mother Ella Yampolsky, of Atlanta, was in Pecos Jan. 6. She
told the Enterprise that her son was part of a group of students who
planned to drive from Los Angeles to New Orleans, then from New Orleans
to Atlanta.

Mrs. Yampolsky said the car involved in the accident had been involved
in one accident before.

"Before he (her son) left L.A., he called me and said it had electrical
problems and was pulling to the left. I told him to be sure to have the
brakes fixed before he left," she said.

DPS said the car reportedly spun out of control while eastbound on I-20.
It crossed the center median and into the path of a Freightliner
truck-trailer, which struck the vehicle broadside, causing the explosion.

All four passengers were pronounced dead at the scene by Justice of the
Peace, Princinct 2, J.T. Marsh.

The driver of the truck, Antonio Lizarraga of Chaparral, N.M., was taken
first to Reeves County Hospital, for treatment of neck and chest
injuries. He was released the following day, but was scheduled to see a
doctor in El Paso in connection with his injuries.
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