YULEE, Fla. – A 25-year-old man from Kingsland and 19-year-old woman from Fernandina Beach were killed early Wednesday morning in a crash on U.S. 17 in Yulee, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
According to the crash report, Matthew Cisco was driving a 2001 Nissan Maxima north on U.S. 17 toward Crandall Road just before 1 a.m. and Meghan Knight was in a 2009 Honda Civic heading south. Troopers said Cisco veered into the southbound lane for an unknown reason and hit Knight's car.
Both died in the head-on collision.
Knight (pictured), whose 19th birthday was Wednesday, died at the scene. Cisco was taken to UF Health Jacksonville, where he died.
VIDEO: Yulee crash victims identified
A stretch of U.S. 17 was closed for nearly six hours while the accident was investigated and cleared.
According to the report, alcohol may have contributed to the crash.
Linda Walker, who lives near the crash site, said she would normally have been getting home from work about the time of the crash but she was running a few minutes late.
"That really worries me now, because normally I'm home, I'm passing that area where the accident was about the time it happened," Walker said. "It worries me now. It scares me now. I never thought about it, ever."
People who drive the stretch of U.S. 17 regularly say most drivers are going much faster that the posted 60 mph speed limit.
"People travel like that up and down on this road all the time. There's times when I'm sitting out here and people are driving so fast, I'm glad I don't have kids,” Walker said. “If I had kids, I wouldn't even be living out here because of that road, because of how people drive on it."
Joey Ruisard said that his car was the second in line Wednesday morning when traffic was stopped for the crash.
Ruisard said that he could tell the crash was bad once he got up close, but didn’t realize two people were killed until an officer told him.
One of the cars in the crash was nearly unrecognizable as it was towed from the scene.
“If it was any seconds further, it could have been me coming around that corner,” Ruisard said. “It’s a scary thought.”
Friends of Meghan Knight shared their memories of her on Facebook Wednesday.
One said, “You will be loved and missed greatly!! Prayers and condolences go out for you and your family.”
Another wrote, “Meghan Knight was such an easy person to love. She was bright. I really have no words other then I loved you more than you will ever know.”