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Chad and Courtney Phelps were killed in a church bus accident in Indianapolis on Saturday. Their son, Chase, nearly 2, was injured and was released from a hospital. Courtney was 8 months pregnant but the unborn child did not survive.
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Tonya Weindorf, a mother of 5, was killed in the wreck. She was with her special needs child at the week-long camp.
Chad Phelps and his wife, Courtney, pregnant and due to deliver next month was killed in the wreck. The unborn child did not survive. Tonya Weindorf, a mother of five, also died in the wreck.
All three were graduates of Bob Jones University, said Randy Page, school spokesperson.
The bus was returning to Colonial Hills Baptist Church in Indianapolis after a week-long summer camp in Michigan.
Page said Chad Phelps graduated with a bachelors' degree in 2010, and completed a master's degree at Bob Jones earlier this year. Courtney Phelps graduated from the university in 2011 and was a native of Simpsonville, Page said.
Chad Phelps was the son of the church’s senior pastor, Charles Phelps. He became youth pastor late last year. Courtney Phelps, a piano-playing teacher, is the daughter of Dr. Russell Gaddy, who has a practice in the Mauldin area.
Weindorf, who was a chaperone on the camping trip, graduated in 1982, Page said.
Weindorf was with her special needs child at camp. Her son and the Phelpses’ nearly 2-year-old son, Chase, were on the bus. They were treated at hospitals and released.
The following statement was issued by Bob Jones University.
“Bob Jones University is deeply saddened by the injury of a number of individuals and the deaths of three of our graduates and an unborn baby in the bus accident in Indianapolis Saturday. While situations like this are difficult to understand, we have absolute faith that God is in control of every circumstance in the lives of those who believe in Him. The Bob Jones University family continues to pray for those injured and their families, the families of those killed and the members of Colonial Hills Baptist Church at this difficult time.”
Dennis Maurer, a 68-year-old congregation member who was driving the church-owned bus, told authorities that its brakes failed before it struck a raised concrete median and flipped on its side, Indianapolis police said.
The bus had nearly completed its 365-mile journey from Camp CoBeAc, near Prudenville, Mich., when it overturned about a mile from the church.