Neighbors said they had raised concerns about the rotted tree before it fell onto Georgette Arena and Stephen Lindstrom’s vehicle in Tennessee
NEED TO KNOW
- A Tennessee couple died when a tree fell on their car during severe weather in Franklin on July 19
- Neighbors had raised concerns about the rotted tree with the property owner months before the incident
- The Tennessee Highway Patrol is leading the investigation into the fatal incident
A Tennessee couple was killed after a tree fell onto their vehicle during severe weather as they drove home from dinner, according to authorities.
The incident occurred on July 19 at Carothers Parkway and South Carothers Road in Franklin, Tenn. The Franklin Police Department alerted the public to the incident in a social media post around 5:34 p.m., urging people to avoid the area.
The couple, who died at the scene, was identified as Georgette Arena, 62, and Stephen Lindstrom, 69, according to WZTV.
After the incident, authorities announced that the Tennessee Highway Patrol would lead the investigation.
Neighbors told WSMV they had raised concerns for months about the rotted tree with the property owner before the storm.
One nearby resident, who identified herself as Ms. Jackson, said she initially mistook the sound of the crash for thunder.
“It was raining real hard and the next thing I knew there were fire trucks, ambulance,” Jackson told WSMV. “They were really working to try to get them out.”
Emergency crews spent several hours working to remove the tree from the crushed vehicle, but Arena and Lindstrom were pronounced dead at the scene, WSMV reported.
“It’s very tragic. You think you are going home from dinner and then you’re gone,” one of the couple’s friends told the station.
Lindsey Krinks, a longtime friend of Lindstrom’s, told WTVF she was heartbroken when she learned the couple had been in the vehicle together.
“When I heard about the crash and heard that Steve was involved I thought, ‘I have to call Georgette,’ and then I saw the news story that they were together in the car, so it’s just so heartbreaking for their families,” Krinks told the outlet.
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Krinks remembered Lindstrom as “an advocate and activist” who “cared so deeply about people who have been cast out in our society.”
“We’re going to miss him and… Georgette so much,” she added.
“She was a diva and a real force. It wasn’t her trying to be anything but herself and what a bright person she was for everyone,” Arena’s daughter Megan told WTVF on Wednesday, July 22.
Arena’s other daughter, Emily, told the outlet that the deaths of her mother and Lindstrom was still difficult to believe.
“It’s whiplash, unreal. I’m still in disbelief,” Emily told WTVF. “We’re at her home that we’ve been at for years. We keep thinking they’re gonna walk through the door.”
PEOPLE has reached out to the Tennessee Highway Patrol and did not immediately hear back.
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