Family seeks to replace van lost in crash in Roseville on Thanksgiving

ROSEVILLE — The family of a man who was involved in a crash on Thanksgiving is asking for the public’s help to replace his van.

In a tweet, Michigan State Police said the Roseville Police Department would be in charge of the investigation of the crash, which occurred on Interstate 94 at 12 Mile Road. However, at press time, Roseville police had not released details of the crash.

The mother of the Kentucky man involved in the crash has taken to GoFundMe.com to tell her son’s story.

“I am asking for help for my son, Justin Goodell, who was involved in a horrible car accident on Thanksgiving day,” Patricia Goodell said in a statement posted on the GoFundMe page.

According to Patricia Goodell, her son was traveling from Kentucky to Imlay City with his wife and eight children to spend Thanksgiving with his family. Allegedly, a man was involved in an argument with family members, which resulted in him shooting two of them. The man then fled from police and entered the freeway in the wrong direction, Goodell said in her statement.

“This was an unavoidable freak accident and was no fault of (Justin Goodell’s),” she said.

The shooting suspect hit a car head-on in the lane next to her son, which caused the suspect’s car to become airborne and land on Justin Goodell’s van. Additionally, the vehicle that was hit was also pushed into Justin Goodell’s lane.

“By the grace of God, all 10 people and two dogs in the van survived,” Patricia Goodell said. “The shooting suspect and the man in the car he hit did not survive, according to police.”

Patricia Goodell said that, to replace the 15-passenger Ford Transit passenger van, it would cost between $50,000 and $60,000.

“I would be so grateful to be able to raise the money for Justin to buy a new van,” Patricia Goodell said in her statement.

In her statement, in addition to thanking Ford Motor Co. for making a safe vehicle, she also thanked Staybridge Suites in Southgate for letting her family stay there until they could figure out how to return to Kentucky.

At press time, the page, which can be found at www.gofundme.com/f/justin-goodell, had raised $5,525 of its $50,000 goal.

Patricia Goodell did not respond to a request for additional comment.