The devastating loss of a young mother and her four children has left a community in mourning and a husband grappling with unimaginable grief after a horrific car accident on Interstate 95 in coastal Georgia. Reagan Dougan, a 27-year-old from Raleigh, North Carolina, was behind the wheel of a rented Jeep Cherokee, driving south with her children—aged 9, 4, 2, and a mere 3 months—when tragedy struck in the predawn hours of Sunday, April 6, 2025. The family was en route to Florida, eagerly anticipating a reunion with Dougan’s husband, who awaited them at their destination. Instead, their journey ended in a fiery collision that claimed all five lives, leaving behind a void that words can scarcely capture.
The crash occurred around 6 a.m. in McIntosh County, near mile marker 62, a stretch of highway just north of Savannah. According to Georgia State Patrol, Dougan’s Jeep was traveling southbound when it rear-ended an Infiniti sedan. The impact sent the SUV veering across lanes, striking a guardrail with such force that it erupted into flames. Emergency responders arrived swiftly, but the intensity of the fire left no chance for survival. The victims, trapped inside the burning wreckage, were pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the Infiniti, whose identity has not been released, sustained injuries and was rushed to a nearby hospital. Authorities have not yet disclosed the condition of the surviving motorist, though the investigation into the crash’s cause remains ongoing.
Reagan Dougan and her children—a 9-year-old boy, a 4-year-old boy, a 2-year-old girl, and a 3-month-old boy—were a family on the move, their trip rooted in the simple desire to be together. Dougan had rented the vehicle in Raleigh, a detail that underscores the temporary nature of their travel plans, now rendered permanent by fate. Her husband, notified of the accident shortly after it occurred, faces the harrowing task of processing a loss that spans his entire immediate family. The Georgia State Patrol has extended its condolences, with Trooper Christopher Ashdown providing the initial identification of the victims, a somber duty that has since rippled through news outlets and communities alike.
Details emerging from the scene paint a picture of sudden chaos on a highway known for its heavy traffic and long stretches of open road. The Jeep, reduced to a charred skeleton, stood as a stark testament to the violence of the collision. Witnesses traveling along I-95 that morning reported seeing the glow of flames against the dark sky, a sight that prompted immediate calls to emergency services. Firefighters and state troopers worked tirelessly to secure the area, but the scale of the tragedy was evident from the outset. The Infiniti’s driver, though injured, escaped the inferno that consumed Dougan’s vehicle, a fact that investigators are piecing together as they analyze the sequence of events.
This heartbreaking incident has reignited discussions about road safety on one of America’s busiest interstates. I-95, stretching from Maine to Florida, is no stranger to accidents, but the loss of an entire family in such a dramatic fashion has struck a nerve. Authorities have yet to determine whether speed, road conditions, or other factors contributed to the crash. The Georgia State Patrol has promised a thorough investigation, with early reports suggesting the Jeep’s collision with the sedan triggered the fatal chain reaction. For now, the focus remains on supporting the surviving family members and understanding how such a calamity unfolded.
In Raleigh, where the Dougan family began their journey, neighbors and friends are reeling from the news. The image of a young mother and her four children, ranging from an infant still in diapers to a boy on the cusp of adolescence, has evoked a profound sense of loss. As the story spreads, it carries with it a call for reflection—on the fragility of life, the unpredictability of travel, and the bonds that tie families together, even in the face of unspeakable tragedy. For Reagan Dougan’s husband, the road ahead is one of sorrow, but also of memory, as he holds tight to the love that defined their time together.