Twitterverse takes on accidental role as woman unknowingly live-tweets husband's fatal car wreck

December 5, 2013

VANCOUVER, Wash. — 

A Southwest Washington woman unknowingly live-tweeted her husband’s fatal car accident Wednesday afternoon.

The collision happened about 1:40 p.m. Wednesday on southbound Interstate 205. Caran Johnson, who tweets using the handle@scancouver, is known for tweeting news in the city of Vancouver, Wash., while listening to police scanners.

She re-tweeted information about the accident from the local newspaper, then details from the State Patrol outlining closures around the collision scene.

“I'm trying not to panic, but my husband left work early and he drives 205 to get home,” Johnson tweeted at 2:17 p.m. about her husband, Craig. “He's not answering his phone.”

She then tweeted that her husband left work after feeling faint, and asked other Twitter users to send her more information about the collision. Johnson also questioned how long she should wait before calling police – and later called 911 for help.

During her search for more information, Johnson also re-tweeted the State Department of Transportation giving estimates for how long delays would be around the fatal collision scene.

Then, at 3:50 p.m., she posted: “it's him. he died.”

Johnson’s next tweet Monday night thanked Twitters users “for the prayers and thoughts” and said she’d “reply to everyone later tonight.”

Johnson, who was also caring for her children, later wrote that she was expecting to hear from the medical examiner and that “I feel like a block of cement fell on me.”

Craig Johnson’s northbound Hyundai crossed the grassy median just north of Padden Parkway and collided head-on with a southbound Toyota pickup truck, The Columbian of Vancouver reported. The 54-year-old woman driving the Toyota was taken by ambulance to PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center’s intensive care unit and her condition was not immediately available, the newspaper reported.

Johnson received dozens of condolences through social media Wednesday night, and an online fundraiser had raised $941 of a $10,000 goal as of 10:50 p.m.

In an interview last year with The Columbian, Johnson said she had been listening to scanners since college.

“It gets kind of depressing, especially when there are children involved,” she told the newspaper then. “I try and maintain a positive attitude.”

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