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Carroll Co. Bus Crash 30th Anniversary Commemoration Set in Radcliff

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Monday will mark the 30th anniversary of the nation’s deadliest drunk driving crash.

Twenty-seven people, most of them children, were killed when their church bus was struck head-on by a pickup truck traveling the wrong way on Interstate-71 in Carroll County, Kentucky.

A commemoration of the anniversary will be held Saturday at North Hardin High School in Radcliff.

Members of the Assembly of God Church in Radcliff were returning from an amusement park outing in Ohio when the crash occurred. The driver of the pickup, Larry Mahoney, had a blood-alcohol level more than twice the state’s legal limit at the time. He served nearly 11 years in prison.

Karolyn Nunnallee will be among the speakers at the commemoration, sponsored by Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Her 10-year-old daughter, Patty, was killed in the crash. Nunnallee, who served as national president of MADD in the late 1990s, says she’s looking forward to re-connecting with the survivors of the crash.

“It will be a wonderful reunion, they’ve always been very special to me," she says. "Recently, I have become friends with about four of them and I really look forward to seeing them. It’s like a family reunion, getting to see them again.”

Kentucky lawmakers have passed some drunk driving measures over the years, though Nunnelly says she’s disappointed that they haven’t been tougher.

She says getting through these anniversaries hasn’t gotten any easier.

"No matter how you try to get it out of your mind, there’s always that memory of the loved one that you lost," she says. "Patty was very dear to me. Last year, as a matter of fact, my third grandchild was christened on that day and my daughter thought that it would be a happy time for us, and as happy as things are, you still remember what you have lost."

Also speaking at the event will be two crash survivors, and Paul Richwalsky, who prosecuted the case against Larry Mahoney.

Rick has been a member of the WFPL News team since 2001 and has covered numerous beats and events over the years. Most recently he’s been tracking the Indiana General Assembly and the region’s passion for sports, especially college basketball.