An Adair County woman is dead and two others injured after a Denny’s restaurant sign crushed a car Thursday afternoon in Elizabethtown. The sign toppled from the high-mast post located along US 62 just off the I-65 interchange at Exit 94. All of the vehicle’s occupants had to be cut out by emergency responders.

The deceased passenger is identified as 72-year-old Lillian Curtis. She passed away due to head trauma after being transported to the University of Louisville Hospital. Her husband, Lloyd Curtis (who was also a passenger) and their daughter, Mary Graham (who was driving the late model Dodge Dart), were taken to Baptist Health Hardin with less severe injuries.
 

The family was returning to Columbia from Louisville after Mr. Curtis’s treatment for complications of recent heart surgery. The car was traveling through the parking lot between Denny’s and White Castle as the sign fell. Winds were gusting to near 50mph at the time. While the long-standing sign has endured higher gusts, meteorologists note the whipping characteristic of winds Thursday was extreme.

Police and city officials are investigating the incident and are reviewing sign permit details.