A MOM and her four children died after a rental car caught fire in a catastrophic two-car collision.
The family was traveling southbound on a highway when their SUV tragically crashed and burned with the passengers still inside.
On Sunday, April 6, at 6 a.m., a mother and her three children were traveling on the I-95 in McIntosh County, Georgia, according to multiple reports.
The driver, Reagan Dougan, 27, was traveling south on the highway with her three sons and daughter when the rental car they were in collided with another vehicle, as stated by CBS affiliate WTOC-TV.
She was on her way to greet her husband who was in Florida at the time of the crash, according to NBC affiliate WRAL.
Georgia State Trooper Christopher Ashdown confirmed that the family’s rental Jeep hit the back of a sedan that morning and subsequently caught fire, as documented by The Associated Press.
The highway was closed for four hours after the crash.
Reagan’s friends in Florida remember her as a “loving” and “devoted” mother.
“I’m still in shock,” Christopher Butler-Jones, who goes by “Jonesy,” told ABC News affiliate WTVD-TV.
“(Her husband) lost his entire family. It’s just heart-wrenching.”
Jonesy told WTVD-TV that Reagan had supported him and his family after Hurricane Milton devastated Siesta Key in Florida, killing 45 people.
“When my kid came out of his room yesterday, he happened to have on the shirt, shorts, everything that was an outfit that she sent,” Butler-Jones said.
“There was a very warm, comforting feeling. It kind of allowed me to be able to start seeing that there is going to be a light at the end of the tunnel.”
“If you’re upset, you can call her and she’s going to make you happy. She’s going to show you the brighter side of it,” he added.
The family had just moved into a quiet neighborhood in Raleigh, North Carolina months before the deadly accident.
“We always waved at each other, she always had a smile on her face. The kids were always happy,” neighbor Jason Flores told WRAL.
Five killed in fiery crash
The deadly car crash killed five people:
- Reagan Dougan, 27 years old
- Son, 9 years old
- Son, 4 years old
- Daughter, 2 years old
- Son, 3 months old
“Their food always smelled good when they cooked it. It was something that we never really got to share any time together but passing by. I can imagine them here now, but they’re gone the next.”
Georgia State Troopers said a witness believed the SUV was traveling at “traveling at a high rate of speed,” as reported by WTVD-TV.
Authorities said the victim in the other car was taken to a hospital after the crash.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that 39,345 people died in traffic crashes last year, according to a 2025 report.
That marks the first time the number of fatalities fell below 40,000 since 2020.
Georgia State Troops did not immediately reply to The U.S. Sun’s request for comment.
