CUDJOE KEY, Fla. – The family of the truck driver killed after crashing into barricades at a construction zone told Local 10 News he was a kindhearted family man.
Charles Shipley, 61, was a longtime commercial truck driver from Maryland who lived in Margate with his wife of 38 years.
“Me and him had plans that he was going to retire in a couple of years,” said his wife, Katrina Shipley.
The fiery crash killed happened in the early morning hours of Dec. 5 near mile marker 21, where the Monroe County sheriff said he warned state transportation officials about unsafe conditions there.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, Shipley died after crashing into a line of concrete barriers where the southbound lane shifts into the center turn lane.
Suzanne Hall, Shipley’s mother, recently visited South Florida to help prepare for the holidays. She said after Shipley dropped her off at the airport, she later received a text message from him before his early-morning drive to Key West.
“‘Glad you made it home, love you and I miss you,’” she recalled him texting. “I wish I had a premonition of what was going to happen because I would have told him not to go on that run.”
Nephew Jason Cook, a first responder in Maryland, said he was concerned after seeing video of the crash. Explosions happen more frequently after crashes involving fuel tankers, he said. Shipley’s truck was delivering food.
“I see a lot of different accidents, but something of that sort, I’ve never seen in my life,” he said.
Earlier in the week, Sheriff Rick Ramsay and County Commissioner Michelle Lincoln met at the site with four representatives from the Florida Department of Transportation. More barrel-type barricades were added to the road leading up to the construction site.
The Florida Highway Patrol continues to investigate.