A vehicle forced a car with three teens returning from school into a canal and fled — one clever move by their mom led cops to the suspect
Road accidents happen without warning, and they can occur even through no fault of the victim. An incident that took place at Interstate 10 in Harrison County, Mississippi, shared a similar account. Three siblings were in a car when another vehicle struck them and sent their car flipping into the water canal, as per a Sun Herald report from March 26, 2026. The driver had already fled when passersby rescued the children, who were desperately trying to escape as water filled the car. But their mother didn’t let it go, as her actions ultimately led to the suspect who caused the crash.
All three teenagers were injured in the accident. The 18-year-old girl, Mariah Gil, required knee surgery, while the boys, aged 15 and 16, had bruises, with one of them sustaining a broken facial bone. Though shaken, their mother, Marie Garside, was determined to find the person responsible for the dangerous crash her children endured. “This is not something I was just going to let happen,” Marie said. So, she took to Facebook that very evening, posting about the crash and urging anyone with information to come forward. Soon, witness accounts and crowdsourced efforts began to yield promising leads.
The car, Kia Soul, had exited at Menge Avenue. Law enforcement used nearby camera footage to identify the vehicle through its license plate. Soon after, it was tracked and was located in Brookhaven. The suspect is under investigation, as the Mississippi Highway Patrol confirmed to the outlet. Marie could have focused solely on her children’s recovery, but her awareness and sense of responsibility may have helped prevent future accidents by the same driver. “My children are very lucky to have their lives. By the grace of God, he had his hands around that vehicle,” she said later.
Her daughter was driving after the children left school and had planned to drop her brothers off at school and go out with a friend that evening. On her way, she noticed a Kia Soul in the passing lane. However, Mariah was driving in the other, slow eastbound lane. The other vehicle changed lanes and tried to force the children out of the eastbound lanes of I-10 in their Chevrolet Impala, according to witnesses and Mariah. Sensing something wrong, Mariah alerted her brothers and said, “This car is trying to ram us off the road.” But, soon, a collision caused their car to lose control. It crashed into a fence before flipping three times and landing upside down in the canal.
The outcome could have been far more serious if not for the two passersby, James and J.D. Durant, who pulled the boys from the water-filled car and then assisted Mariah, who was struggling in the water. The mother of three also expressed her gratitude to the strangers as she believed her children survived because of them. Marie also appreciated emergency responders, including the highway patrol, Harrison County Sheriff’s Department, and emergency medical staff. Meanwhile, all three of her children are on the road to recovery, with Mariah expected to take a longer time due to knee surgery.