14 News, The Tri-State's News and Weather Leader-Update: Missing Evansville women in fatal accident

Update: Missing Evansville women in fatal accident

Update Fri, 9pm

Reporter: Brandon Bartlett
New Media Producer: Melissa Greathouse

What started out as a usual Thursday outing turned into tragedy.  

85-year-old Nadine Coleman and 80-year-old Wilma Schoonover were killed last night in a head-on collision on Interstate 24 in Western Kentucky.

Tonight 14 News asks how did these women, who usually stay in the Evansville area ... Get so far away?  

Ange Humphrey-Relyea, Associate minister at American Baptist East, knew the ladies well.

They've attended the church for over 60 years, both sitting in the same pew every Sunday.

"They sat together and had coffee and doughnuts on Sunday morning, so everybody will be looking for them," said Humphrey.

Every Thursday the two would run errands together -- Wilma always behind the steering wheel -- always taking the same route.

But on Thursday, friends say something went horribly wrong.

After lunch their final stop was always to visit friends at Bethel Manor.

This time they never made it.

Loved ones believe construction on Diamond Avenue might have confused Wilma, causing her to take a wrong turn. One wrong turn led to another.

"Maybe they just got lost and tried to work their way back and got more off the beaten path," Humphrey said. 

Somehow the two ended up on Interstate 24 in Western Kentucky -- driving down the highway in the wrong direction.

They were hit -- head on -- by a semi.

Both were pronounced dead at the scene.

"When there's a loss it's felt throughout the entire building," said Brenda Goff of Bethel Manor. 

Friday night those touched by the lives of these two women are questioning how this happened, and why it happened to two ladies who devoted their lives to helping others -- and each other.

"I could only imagine, knowing them, that being together at the end of their interesting lives would have been a plus for them," said Humphrey. "They were such good friends."Update, 9:30am Fri: Kentucky State Police tell 14 News Nadine Coleman and Wilma Schnoonover have been killed in an accident on Interstate 24 near Paducah.

An accident report says their car was driving the wrong way in the westbound lanes of I-24 in Livingtston County about 10pm Thursday when they hit a semi head on.

The semi ended up in the median and caught fire. The driver of the semi was treated for minor injuries and released from the hospital.

14 News reporter Nicole Didonato will have a full report on 14 News later Friday.

New Media Producer: Amanda Lents

Two elderly women from Evansville are missing and police are trying to figure out what happened to them.

The women, Nadine Coleman and Wilma Schnoonover, are both in their eighties. Nadine Coleman lives on Henning Avenue in Evansville, and Wilma Schoonover lives on John Court.

Family and friends have been worried because both women have a routine on Thursdays. They go to the grocery, run errands together, visit friends at Bethel Manor nursing home and then head home.

But family members say the two women didn't make it home Thursday. Friends have been retracing the women's steps but have turned up nothing.

Coleman and Schoonover were driving a 2005, yellow or white colored Chrysler 300.

The investigation has shifted from Evansville to Mayfield, Kentucky. Kentucky State Police are working on developments near Paducah and plan to release more information on Friday.

Wilma Schoonover is the grandmother of Jamey Carroll. Carroll's a University of Evansville graduate and now plays major league baseball for the Cleveland Indians.

We will continue to follow this story and bring you more information as it becomes available.