TECORA HUEY YOUNG The estate of an Asheville, N.C., woman who died after accidentally driving into the Broad River filed a lawsuit this week in Cherokee County Court of Common Pleas against two utilities and the state Department of Natural Resources, alleging the woman died as a result of a negligently designed boat ramp and public access area.

Tecora Huey Young, 77, died on Oct. 18, 2008, after plunging her car directly into the river in the Big Bay area while traveling on Sarratt Road.

Known by some friends and family as "Momma T," Young was reported missing Oct. 18, 2008, after she left a family gathering on Estelle Road in the Concord area and reportedly set out for the Birnie Street residence of another relative to spend the night. She never made it to Birnie Street, however, touching off searches by family members and police.

Her vehicle was discovered submerged in about seven to eight feet of water about 50 feet from the Big Bay boat ramp in December 2008.

Sarratt Road terminates at a boat launch on the Broad River.

Named as defendants in the lawsuit are Duke Energy, the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources and the Gaffney Board of Public Works, either as owners, designers or regulators of the Big Bay public access area.

The lawsuit alleges the three defendants were negligent in failing to have "proper" advanced warning signs; in failing to configure the approach to the boat ramp so as not to allow direct access down Sarratt Road; in failing to barricade the boat ramp after dark; in failing to have the public access area properly lighted; and in failing to correct alleged dangers and consult with other government

entities about those alleged dangers prior to Huey's death.

The suit seeks unspecified damages.

A BPW official had no comment on the lawsuit.

Other vehicles have been found at the same location, among them the car belonging to Verlishia Littlejohn, a Gaffney woman who went missing in November 2007. Littlejohn's body was found in the river about four miles downstream from the Big Bay area in January 2008 and her car was found several days later submerged in about 15 feet of water near the same boat ramp where Young's vehicle was found.