DANVILLE, Va. – The victims of a fiery crash have been identified, a month after both died in a high speed accident on the Piney Forest Road.
The Medical Examiner’s Office of the Western District of Virginia identified the driver as 54-year-old Brian Odell Bowden of Danville. His passenger was 49-year-old Leanette Renee Tharp.
The investigation, with assistance from the Virginia State Police’s crash reconstruction team, concluded the vehicle was traveling between 79 mph and 92 mph at the time of the crash, before striking a telephone pole and being engulfed in flames.
In a statement, Danville Police said DNA verified the identities of both, adding “finalized analysis of the scene reconstruction brings this criminal investigation to a conclusion.”
At approximately 7:55 on the morning of September 4, officers responded to the intersection of Piney Forest Road and Seminole Trail for a single vehicle accident. Police found a four-door Nissan sedan engulfed in flames upon arrival. The two occupants of the vehicle were pronounced dead at the scene.