Driving Off Cliffs

Our large, dysfunctional family, has large age gaps amongst the siblings. So, since I am stuck in the middle, this is my one memory that contained all (full blooded, not halved, not stepped, not adopted) members of my immediate family. We have discussed over the years, and mentioned often, the Driving Off The Cliff Incident. So here is my attempt to get everyone’s point of view, of Driving Off The Cliff Incident.

I sent out the message:
If you were involved, or even if you weren't, please tell me your version of the time Kellie and Katie drove off a cliff. Be detailed :)

Some foreknowledge :Katie = Kathy -14 yrs Kellie - 15 yrs Dori - 12 yrs Gin=Ginny - 7 yrs David - One-ish
Here is what I got in response:
Katie Fuller

We were driving grandma Murray's big blue car to Louisiana when we were moving to La. You were riding with dad, me and Kellie were in the car. She didn't want to drive all the way there, and begged mom to let her fly too. Mom and little david were flying, don't remember where Dori was. She came up with the idea to wreck the car so then we wouldn't have to drive. So she drove it off the side of the mountain. We didn't go too far, it wasn't like a 200 ft drop off or anything, maybe 15 ft. We went to the hospital, I had a shattered elbow, I don't remember Kellie’s injuries. Dad called mom and said we had been in an accident, Kellie hurt what ever, I hurt my elbow, but we were ok. Mom panicked because he didn't say anything about you. She thought you were dead. She insisted we all fly at that point, and if I remember correctly, we did accomplish our goal! Years later, when I told the truth, Kellie denied that it was done on purpose.

Gin: what about the part about some guy carrying you back up the cliff?
Katie Fuller: I don’t remember that?????

Gin: Ok, here's my version . . . . (full of holes since I was a kid at the time)

You guys were in an accident, went off a cliff. Some guy carried you back up the mountain and we went to the hospital. I think there was some excuse about someone's hand was in a brace and couldn’t shift or something, and that's why it went over the cliff. I was not supposed to be in the car with dad, it was packed with household items, etc. But I remember, for whatever reason, my pants were in the car that went over the cliff, and I was riding in dad's car, sitting on a television in my underwear. I remember that mom thought I was dead because dad didn’t mention me, and I lived the nightmare everyone has - I was in public in my underwear! I was pantless at the hospital. (That is all I remember :)

Katie Fuller:

I vaguely remember your underwear and the tv, and I remember a guy, but not being carried. It was my arm that was in a brace, but Kellie was driving. Ok, I have thought about it, and I do remember a guy, but I think he carried Kellie up the hill not me??? I don't remember much more than I told you already, sorry.

So now, in comes Mom’s response:
Mom:

1984 We were moving back to Louisiana from Utah along with the Murrays. David was driving our small station wagon with Ginny, Kellie and Kathy. They were towing Grandma Murray's large car. Her huge old television was in the car with them. It was too much for the station wagon to tow up the mountains. Your dad had promised me he would not let Kellie drive because she had a broken arm in a cast. He decided without letting me know, to unhook the cars. He continued to drive the station wagon with you and he made Kellie drive Grandma's car along with Kathy. They went off the road and down the mountain and hit a large drainage pipe about 50-60 feet down. It stopped them from going all the way down.

Your Dad was following them so he knew what happened. They were slightly injured but were o.k. I was at Merrill's with plans to fly to Louisiana with little David. Your Dad called Merrill's and left this message: "We've been in an accident. We are at the hospital in -----. Kellie and Kathy are o.k." It was many hours from Ogden, somewhere near Green River. After getting the message Evelyn drove me for hours and hours -- me crying all the way because the message had his voice and he said Kellie and Kathy were o.k. So to me that meant Ginny was not o.k. and was dead. Thank goodness it was just his failure to mention you -- you had been in the station wagon with him but I didn't know that all of you weren't in the same car. Sometime after Kathy told me Kellie had gone off the mountain on purpose. At that time Kellie denied it. But -- at a later time when speaking with Kellie, she said it was sort of intentional. The tow company that the Murrays paid to go get her car had to make three trips before they were able to find and get her car, even when given specifics. It was hidden from sight and if your Dad had not seen them go off, they might still be there.

Ok, now for Dad’s response, with some minor *harsh* feelings:
Dad:

We were all moving from Bountiful to LA. Joyce had become intolorable, she was moving off and leaving my aged parents living across the street without even telling telling them. They had given up their home in Hammond and moved to UT thinking we would care for them. Granddad Ledbetter had died and Grandma Murray was deeply depressed and only had the used car as their one asset. When the semi was loaded there was still room for the Opel and the few possesions my parents still had. So they were allowed to accompany us in the move. Kelly was nearing the height of her bad girl teen stage. She cared for no one but herself and worked at being a super brat. The plan was for her to drive Grandmother Murray's car and Katie rode with her to keep her company. They were on the cutoff highway Hwy 6, I think, between Springfield and Green River. Kelly decided she was being treated unfairly, she wanted to fly not drive for 3 days. It was dark and she could not see the roadside. She decided to wreck the car and then Joyce would let her fly. She turned the wheel and left the road. It turned out that there was about a forty foot drop off. She complained of an injured arm. I took her to the hospital in Springield they put a brace on and said not to use it for a week or two. The Dr. could not see any injury on the x-rays. To this day I don't know if she was really hurt or if it was part of her act so she could fly and not drive. When got to LA some of the supports for the water beds were broken, sure enough those all belonged to grandma Murray's water bed. Guess who had to hire a carpenter to fix the their bed.

So, after MUCH debate, I finally got Kellie’s version:
Kellie:

We were moving to LA and I was driving grandma Murray’s car loaded down with stuff. (I remember a tv). Kathy was with me, I don’t know what we were thinking, but we decided to just drive off the road. We are lucky we weren’t killed! We went over a cliff and fell about 30 feet. There was a man driving behind us, he stopped and ended up helping dad carry us back up to the road. We went to the hospital, we were fine, Mom was mad so we flew to LA about 2 or 3 days later. End of story, stupid on my part, somebody [mom,dad, grandma,] should have kicked my ass, instead they were all just glad we didn’t die.

Gin: Kellie, that’s not enough. You started with Chris Merrill broke your arm with a waterbed board. More details needed.

Kellie:

Loading the car, Chris Merrill hit me in the arm with a waterbed board. My hand was in a brace. I wasn’t old enough to drive, mom and dad taught me how to drive in case there was an emergency since gramma Murray moved up there. I didn’t have a driver’s license. I was actually looking forward to driving cross country. Especially since it would be just me and Kathy in the car.

I think it was somewhere in Provo where we drove off the cliff. Dad was in front of me for some reason. Some normal person driving behind us saw us go over. When dad didn’t see our head lights in the rearview mirror he turned around and went back, and saw a man pulled over to the side trying to stop passers-by to get help. The man told him we went over the cliff, they hiked down the cliff, carried us back up the mountain, put us in dad's car and went to the hospital. Mom came, she was mad, and we all flew after that. I do remember you being in your underwear and a tshirt. I wanted to drive across country, I did not drive over the cliff just so that we could fly, as per Kathy’s memories.

Ok, so far, no one has mentioned Dori.
Dori:

I was flying with mom and David to La to move. Chris Merrill and Kellie were playing around with a board from Dad’s waterbed, and he swung it around and hit her wrist. She had a soft cast on it. Anyway, we packed everything into an 18 wheeler, even Kellie's gray/orange little car. You and Dad drove one car, Kellie and Kathy drove grandma's boat. I guess I remember Dad saying he was driving with the other two behind him, and when he didn't see them for a while, he turned around and went back to look for them. They had driven over the edge of the mountain and had been stopped by a culvert on the side of the mountain. I don't remember going with Mom to meet you guys, so I must've stayed with David. He was less than 6 months old. I had just turned 13 and we were moving to LA to Galvez. Mom and I had gone to LA earlier in the summer to set up the bingo and stayed with PawPaw Newman. That was when Little David pooped on the bar because he had a diaper rash and the best way to cure it was to let him go without a diaper.

Ok, so the cliff was 15 feet, 30 feet, 40 feet, or 50-60 feet down the mountain. Dad was both in front of the car, and following the car. There was another man who carried someone up the cliff. The cliff was located in cutoff highway Hwy 6, I think, between Springfield and Green River, or somewhere hours from Ogden, somewhere near Green River, or somewhere in Provo. Kellie wanted to drive (according to her) and did not want to drive (according to Katie, and Dad.) They drove off the cliff for no apparent reason, and also because they did not want to drive, they wanted to fly. Kellie does not remember her reason, but Katie contradicts and says Kellie didn’t want to drive, and they got their way in the end, by flying. Everyone but Kellie remembers my "death" and dad’s (lack of informational) phone message. Not one person can remember where Dori was, and/or her lack of involvement in the situation.