LOCAL: Divers find body of swimmer who disappeared in Wateree River A2 NATION Division between rural, urban areas increasing TUESDAY, JULY 5, 2016 | Serving South Carolina since October 15, 1894 75 cents A5 Study IDs most dangerous roads The purpose of the study was to and Old Whites Mill Road, Broad was the location of 8 percent of 5 Sumter intersections identify problem areas to make chang- Street and Patriot Parkway, Thomas wrecks, while the other four intersec- on list; results will be es to reduce the number of wrecks Sumter Highway and Frierson Road, tions accounted for 4 percent of crash- and fatal collisions. Pinewood Road and McCrays Mill es each, said Allan Yu, Sumter Plan- used to make area safer The study by South Carolina De- Road and Alice Drive and West Wes- ning Department transportation man- partment of Transportation moni- mark Boulevard. ager. BY ADRIENNE SARVIS tored roadways and driver conditions During the study, those five inter- Of the 2,011 intersections in the [email protected] within the Sumter Urban Area Trans- sections were the locations of 51 SUATS’ boundary, only 8 percent have portation Study boundary and report- wrecks, 24 percent of all intersection signals, according to Yu’s summary of Five intersections and the major ed 170 fatal and single-incident wrecks collisions in the SUATS system. the SCDOT report. corridors in Sumter were recently between 2011 and 2014. North Main Street and Old Whites According to DOT’s report, 35 percent identified as locations with the highest The top five intersections with high Mill Road, the only intersection of the crash rates for drivers. crash rates include North Main Street five that does not have signal lights, SEE WRECKS, PAGE A6 New director Perfect vantage point Ministry of local senior services wants helps find to ‘give back’ answers for BY IVY MOORE [email protected] the needy It took a while, but Dana Strock has found a career path BY JIM HILLEY that fulfills several of her [email protected] greatest wishes. The new exec- utive director of Sumter Se- It can never be said enough nior Services talked about that many Sumter United Min- those wishes and how they istries clients simply do not make her new position ideal know what to do next. on Thursday, when she’d been Such was the case of a se- on the job just short of two nior woman who went to the weeks. Crisis Relief Ministry offices A daughter of Margaret and with a big problem — her (stepfather) Harold Hodge of HVAC sys- Sumter and Ray Strock of tem did not Santee, Strock said, “I’ve been work prop- living away from my family for erly. almost 17 years, and I was The Cri- looking for a way to get back sis Relief home. Family is the most im- Ministry portant thing to me.” does not In Sumter, she’s living near have a pro- her parents and siblings as gram to re- well as her young nieces and pair HVAC systems, but the nephew, whom she’s looking ministry provides window forward to “watching ... grow units for those who demon- up.” strate a medical necessity for The opportunity to work al- air conditioning. This client most exclusively with the was a retiree with significant older population was another health issues complicated by aspect of the job that attracted hot air (as verified by her phy- Strock. sician). “I was partially raised by After a few questions, Kevin my grandmother,” she said. Howell, crisis relief director, “Grandma was a huge influ- found out that a church had ence on my life. I remember at performed some work on her 4 or 5 trying to teach my gran- unit in the previous year. ny to read. She lived in a rural “For many of us, a phone area, where there were limited call to whoever performed the services. She did have home work would have been a logi- health services, but my mom cal first step,” Howell said, had to do a lot. She had to find “but for our clients, it is often resources, be sure she quali- not so clear.” fied.” A United Ministries volun- Strock, 40, received her un- teer placed a phone call and dergraduate degree from received a warm response and Coker College and her mas- thorough explanation of the ter’s degree in criminal justice work performed on the client’s from University of South Car- unit. The volunteer was able olina. She most recently to fully explain to the client what was wrong with the SEE STROCK, PAGE A6 HVAC system and that it need- ed a complete replacement. “The questions were an- swered, which really helped her,” Howell said. “Clarity dis- pels confusion.” Through generous dona- tions made to the ministry, it was able to provide the next- best alternative: a large win- dow-unit air conditioner. She was happy to have a so- lution, answers to her ques- tions and, of course, cooler air KEITH GEDAMKE / THE SUMTER ITEM to breathe. The Crisis Relief Dana Strock, the new executive Ministry will always be avail- director of Sumter Senior Servic- able to help confused clients es, is seen during a meeting of the KEITH GEDAMKE / THE SUMTER ITEM navigate a course of action volunteer events planning com- A bike rack made the perfect back support for kids watching the fireworks at Dillon Park on and get much-needed answers mittee for the upcoming Backyard Saturday evening. “Fireworks in the Park” was sponsored by the City and County of Sumter. Jamboree, set for Sept. 9. See more photos of Fourth of July events on page A3. SEE CARING, PAGE A6 VISIT US ONLINE AT DEATHS, B6 WEATHER, A8 INSIDE Thersera Coard Robert C. Griffith COULD BE STORMY 2 SECTIONS, 16 PAGES the .com VOL. 121, NO. 219 Joyce McCants Barbara Peebles A storm or two but otherwise David Simmons William Hall partly sunny; storms early Classifieds B8 Opinion A7 Mary Branham Vineta Stewart tonight, then mainly clear Comics B7 Television A4 Peter Madan James D. Jackson HIGH 97, LOW 78 A2 | TUESDAY, JULY 5, 2016 THE SUMTER ITEM Call: (803) 774-1226 | E-mail: [email protected] Divers find missing swimmer’s body Child abuse, neglect cases BY RICK CARPENTER [email protected] rise by 13,000 Area dive teams, who spent Independence Day searching for the body of a S.C. DSS director: missing swimmer they think may have drowned in the Centralized system Wateree River on Sunday, found him on Monday eve- reason for increase ning. The unidentified victim, COLUMBIA (AP) — The 51, of Sumter was reportedly number of child abuse and sitting with family members neglect complaints in South in a chair on a sandbar in Carolina has increased by shallow water Sunday when more than 13,000 in the past he decided to walk into the three years. water to use the restroom. The Department of Social Witnesses said he suddenly Services received more than went underwater and never 40,000 complaints in 2015. came up. The agency fielded more Family members who than 27,000 complaints in were with him at the time 2012. told Sumter County Sheriff's Centralizing where abuse Office the water current allegations can be made wasn't strong at the time. through a toll-free telephone An emergency call went number and hiring more out about 3:45 p.m. Sunday to caseworkers has led to the Richland County Sheriff's increase in complaints, DSS Office, which then rushed to Director Susan Alford said. the scene and dispatched a "We don't want to miss a helicopter to try to deter- report. What we have to be mine whether he had sur- careful of is maintaining our faced and gotten out of the staffing levels to support water on land along the RICK CARPENTER / THE SUMTER ITEM that increase — we need to river. South Carolina Department of Natural Resources employees Chip Allen, left, and Dale Gibson leave assure we have adequate Sumter County Sheriff's the dock area to transport food for divers searching for a missing swimmer Monday afternoon. numbers of highly trained Office Public Information intake workers, to do timely Officer Ken Bell said the and effective screening of Sumter sheriff's office, Sum- tween Richland and Sumter covery operation. Divers near where he went under. incoming calls, and we need ter Police Department, Sum- counties. Rescue crews set from DNR, Sumter sheriff's Bell said drowning victims' to retain enough casework- ter Fire Department and up a command post at W.T. office, Sumter Fire Depart- bodies rarely travel very far. ers to manage increased South Carolina Department Tolar Public Boat Landing ment and Sumter Police De- "They're usually found caseloads," Alford said in a of Natural Resources joined site on the Wateree River partment were searching an close to where they went statement to The Greenville the search Sunday. Sumter where it intersects with U.S. area about a quarter mile under," he said. News. sheriff's office took over the 378. downstream from the com- Bell said family members DSS thinks the increase in search and rescue on Mon- Sumter sheriff's office mand post. at the command post said reports will level out soon, day after determining the in- Chief Deputy Hampton Gardner said visibility in they were too distraught to as they have in other states cident originated in Sumter Gardner said by Monday the water was "zero," and speak to reporters, but he that implemented a central- County. The Wateree River morning, the search had they were feeling their way said they are from the Cher- ized reporting system.