by Geoff Fox
A 36 year old Hancock woman was killed in an ATV accident in southern Fulton County late Friday night, December 12, on Negro Mountain Road.
According to Pennsylvania State Police, Holley Elizabeth Appel was the named victim of the crash.
Police reported that the accident occurred just after 11:30 p.m. last Friday night near the intersection of Negro Mountain Road and Buck Valley Road in Warfordsburg.
Police said the 2023 Polaris ATV, being driven by Appel, was traveling south on Negro Mountain Road. While approaching a Y intersection in the road and attempting to negotiate a left curve in the roadway, the vehicle went off the right shoulder of the roadway.
The ATV proceeded to roll down an embankment and came to rest on its hood with the front end facing west half on the shoulder and the westbound roadway of Buck Valley Road.
Appel was found by the ATV by a family member who was not involved in the crash, police said in a release on Monday.
Fulton County Coroner Berley Souders pronounced Appel deceased at 12:58 a.m. on Saturday morning, December 13.
Police said front seat passengers Leah Brook Yonker, 29, and rear left seat side passenger Kaitlin Nicole Martin, 35, both of Warfordsburg, were transported to UMPC Cumberland with non-life-threatening injuries.
Yonker was transported to the hospital by Flintstone EMS and Martin was transported by Hancock Rescue Squad, police said.
Police said that in phone interviews, Martin and Yonker said due to head injuries, they couldn’t remember if they were ejected, but they were wearing their seatbelts.
The rear right passenger, an 8 year old female child, was air lifted by Life Flight to Conemaugh Memorial Hospital in Johnstown with serious injuries.
Orleans Volunteer Fire Department and EMS and Needmore Volunteer Fire Department and EMS assisted police at the scene.
Bards Auto Towing also assisted on the scene.
Appel was known to many in Hancock as the manager and longtime employee of Jimmy Joy’s Log Cabin Inn. The restaurant posted a tribute to her, saying her positive energy, friendliness and exceptional customer service would be missed by the staff and patrons.
