Trooper A.M. Humphrey was patrolling south on I-95 in Robeson County when he noticed a stranded motorist at mile marker #9. Jessica DePriest, her 2 ½ year old son Jakob and her 18 month old triplets Raychel, Rebekah and Kalob were stranded in their minivan.
Mrs. DePriest was on the way home to Hinesville, GA after visiting her parents in Dunn when her minivan started to act up and she decided to pull over. She told Trooper Humphrey that her parents and a wrecker would be there in about an hour and that she was fine to wait.
Trooper Humphrey thought 24-year-old mother seemed distraught and didn’t feel comfortable leaving the family there waiting on the side of the road.
About five minutes later, he noticed waves of heat coming from the engine and realized that the minivan’s engine was on fire and quickly grabbed two of the children and put them in his patrol car.
A Samaritan motorist, Bill Gorgonnie of Delaware, stopped and tried to put out the flames with his fire extinguisher. It slowed the flames long enough for Trooper Humphrey to grab the other two children from the burning minivan.
Trooper Humphrey attempted to go back to the minivan and retrieve any clothes, medicine or toys that he could, but by then the minivan was fully engulfed. Then, all of the sudden, the gas tank exploded.
Mrs. DePriest, whose husband is deployed to Iraq, stated that Trooper Humphrey was a “guardian angel” to her family. Since then, the Wal-Mart in Lumberton gave the family four new car seats and the Lumberton Police department donated $100.00 to the family.