Wednesday morning started like any other for 60-year-old Stella Redfearn Dase. She was behind the wheel of her Stanly County Public Transportation bus, driving her usual route through Albemarle. People in town knew her as a steady, reliable presence on the local roads. She took pride in getting folks where they needed to go safely every single day.
By 6:45 a.m., traffic was picking up near the intersection of Highway 52 and Salisbury Avenue. Stella was heading northbound, steering the transit bus smoothly through the early morning sunlight. Dozens of commuters were out on the highway starting their workday, expecting a standard morning drive without any trouble.
Out of nowhere, a terrifying chain reaction unfolded right in front of her. A driver heading southbound hit an object sitting directly in the middle of the roadway. The force of the impact caused the driver of the Jeep to lose control immediately, swerving wildly across the center line and straight into oncoming traffic.
Stella had almost no time to react as the out-of-control Jeep crossed into the northbound lanes. The SUV slammed head-on into the front of Stella’s public transit bus with immense force. Seconds later, a Ford pickup truck traveling right behind the bus could not stop in time and rear-ended the bus, adding to the violent pileup.
Emergency crews rushed to the scene within minutes, finding a chaotic wall of twisted metal blocking the road. First responders worked as fast as they could, but Stella’s injuries were simply too severe. The beloved 60-year-old bus driver was pronounced dead right at the scene, leaving local transit workers and community members heartbroken.
Paramedics transported the Jeep driver to a nearby hospital with serious injuries, while crash investigators began piecing together how a simple morning drive went so terribly wrong. It did not take long for police to find the root cause of the tragedy. An object had dropped off a passing vehicle moments earlier, creating a hidden trap on the highway.
Investigators tracked down the driver who dropped the item, identifying him as 37-year-old Dustin Kendall of New London. Authorities charged Kendall with failure to secure a load and running an expired registration. Meanwhile, Highway 52 remained closed for hours between West Oakwood Avenue and Ash Street while the Albemarle Police Department and State Highway Patrol cleared the wreckage and investigated the loss of a devoted local driver.
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