Van driver's body recovered

The body of the driver of the van involved in the fatal wreck in Ebro Tuesday has been recovered, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

The body of Lislie Jacques, 58, of Harmony was recovered at 2:32 p.m. He was the husband of front-seat passenger Pauline Jacques, 58, also of Harmony.

Earlier coverage

EBRO — Divers suspended searching the murky Choctawhatchee River late Tuesday after an early morning accident on a rural bridge left the driver of a private prisoner transport service van presumed dead.

About 5:30 a.m., the van was eastbound on State 20 on the Olan Rex Ferguson Bridge at the Washington-Walton County line, when it crossed the center line and struck the side of an F-350 pickup truck driven by Boris D. Peterson of Vernon.

The impact pushed the United States Group 7 Protective Services van into the guardrail, ejecting the driver. He is presumed dead, according to a Florida Highway Patrol media release.

The driver’s identity has not been released by the FHP, which is investigating the accident, and divers spent much of the day searching for his body. The search for the man’s body will resume at 8 a.m. Wednesday.

Agencies assisting with the search were the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Walton County Sheriff’s Office, Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office, Jackson County Sheriff’s Office and Walton County Fire and Rescue.

Four passengers were traveling in the van, including at least two prisoners, according to the report. Two passengers identified as prisoners sustained minor injuries and were taken to Bay Medical Center.

The transport van was headed to the Bay County Jail Annex, FHP Lt. Steve Preston said.

One of the injured passengers, Alisha L. Jackson, 20, was en route to the Bay County Jail from Tift County, Ga., on charges of failure to appear on criminal use of personal identification and violation of pretrial intervention on dealing in stolen property charges, Bay County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Ruth Corley said.

Jackson was released from the hospital and was transported to the jail by midday, Corley said. A second inmate, Angela D. Goddard, 33, was headed for Hernando County, she said.

Another transport employee, Pauline Jacques, was in the front seat of the van. The Harmony woman had minor injuries but was not hospitalized.

Rolando Brown, 22, who was seated in the rear passenger seat of the van, was reported to be uninjured, but no further details were available.

The person who answered the phone at the transport company said no one was available to talk. Phone calls to the company, which is based in Lakeland, were not returned Tuesday.

Peterson, who was driving the pickup truck, and his passenger, 31-year-old Ariane Andrews, also of Vernon, were uninjured.

Jacques was the only person wearing a seat belt in either vehicle, the report said.