Bell woman and grandson trapped 20 hours in overturned car

By Carrie A. Mizell

A 67-year-old Bell woman and her teenage grandson were found injured and trapped inside an overturned vehicle on Sunday afternoon, almost 20 hours after they wrecked off County Road 340.
According to the Gilchrist County Sheriff’s Office, Louise Kalandyk and her 14-year-old grandson, W.A. Kalandyk, were reportedly in stable condition at Shands Hospital on Tuesday morning.
The pair was reported missing by Louise’s daughter Robin Kalandyk at 1:30 a.m. on Sunday, after they failed to return home from a family gathering at the Lighthouse Restaurant in Fanning Springs.
Robin Kalandyk told investigators that Louise and her grandson had not been seen since they left the restaurant around 7 p.m. After attempting to contact her mother by telephone several times throughout the evening, Robin Kalandyk said she grew increasingly alarmed and called 911.
Officials at the Gilchrist County Sheriff’s Office put out a General Lookout in surrounding counties before notifying the investigations division.
While working the case, Investigator Ron Boyd traveled the route home that he thought Louise Kalandyk might have driven along County Road 341 north. When Boyd came to the intersection of County Road 341 and County Road 340 he noticed several signs had been knocked down.
Boyd parked his vehicle and walked 50 yards into the woods where he found Kalandyk’s overturned Ford Focus. Inside the vehicle, Boyd found Louise Kalandyk and her grandson, severely injured but still alive after 20 hours inside the car.
EMS was quickly notified and the two occupants of the vehicle were flown by Trauma 1 to Shands Hospital in Gainesville.
According to Trooper W.L. McGauley, who worked the accident for the Florida Highway Patrol, Louise Kalandyk failed to stop at a stop sign at the intersection of County Road 341 and County Road 340. Her vehicle traveled onto the north shoulder of County Road 340 before striking a small dirt embankment, which caused the car to strike traffic signs. Kalandyk’s vehicle then continued airborne hitting several trees before the front end struck the ground, causing it to overturn. The vehicle was not visible from the roadway.