WEYERS CAVE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Virginia State Police continues to investigate a three-vehicle crash that kept northbound Interstate 81 closed for several hours on Monday, April 1, 2024.

A 2023 Lincoln Nautilus was traveling northbound on at mile marker 232 when it attempted to pass a 2005 Kenworth W900 on the tractor trailer’s right side.  The Nautilus struck the tractor trailer, which was hauling cattle, causing the tractor trailer to veer to the right and strike a 2017 Nissan Pathfinder.  The tractor trailer and the Pathfinder then both went off the road to the right and the tractor trailer overturned.

The Nautilus went off the interstate on the left side of the northbound lanes. The driver, Tonya S. Cleveland, 56, of Verona, Va., was not injured.  She was, however, cited for making an unsafe lane change.

The driver of the tractor trailer, Dewey B. Emswiler, 69, of Shenandoah, Va., suffered minor injuries.

The driver of the Pathfinder was not injured.

All were wearing their seatbelts.

Some of the cows safely wandered away from the crash, but 11 cows were killed.