Two Killed in Cherokee County Wreck

A fatal Christmas Eve accident in Cherokee county claimed two lives and sent three more people to the hospital.

The accident, which happened around 5 p.m. on Hickory Flat Highway (Hwy. 140) near Cherokee Overlook Drive, involved a westbound Buick and an eastbound Ford Mustang. Georgia State Patrol said the driver of the Buick ran off the roadway and onto the north shoulder of 140; she then overcorrected, crossed into the westbound lanes, and broadsided the Mustang. The Mustang then t-boned into the right side of the Buick.

Both vehicles fell down a 30-foot embankment.

"It made extrication quite difficult," said Dan Floyd with Cherokee Fire and Emergency Services. "It took us 30 minutes or so to get the patients out of their cars and get them transported."

Emergency workers were still working Monday evening to identify three of the five victims.

Two people were in the Mustang; they were transported to North Fulton Hospital and Atlanta Medical Center; one was reportedly in critical condition. The three other victims were in the Buick.

Witnesses told 11Alive News that the driver of the Buick appeared to be pregnant, but GSP did not confirm that information. Both she and the man in the passenger seat of the Buick were killed in the collision; the third person in the Buick crawled out the back window and was later transported to North Fulton Hospital.

Both the driver of the Buick and her front-seat passenger died despite being restrained during the crash. The driver was Julie Divelbliss, 41, of Woodstock.

On Tuesday, police released the name of Ms. Divelbliss's passenger as Richard Kevin Tudor, 41, also from Woodstock. They held the name through the overnight and morning hours while attempting to reach Mr. Tudor's family.