An elderly couple killed in a car accident in rural Washington state was found holding hands in the wreckage, a state trooper said.
Floyd Nordhagen, 92, and Margaret Nordhagen, 88, died Sunday afternoon after they pulled out of a store parking lot onto a state highway in front of an oncoming pickup truck, NBC station KHQ TV in Spokane reported.
Their son, Marv Nordhagen, told the station that he thinks his mom probably grabbed his dad’s hand when the accident happened.
Friends said the couple, who cared for several animals, was on their way to buy cat food before the accident.
“You don’t see that every day,” Trooper Rob Spencer told another local station, KREM TV. “We actually had to ask her to let go of him, so we could get him out of the car.”
“I don't know if they were holding hands before he passed, or if she grabbed him afterwards but it doesn't matter,” family friend “Britches” Peden also told KREM.
The couple was married for 68 years and had lived on a farm and ranch in the Elk Community of Spokane County in the northeast part Washington state for 45 years. They were popular members of the community church.
Floyd often bragged about how pretty Margaret was, and when he started having a hard time pushing the lawn mower, she would help and they would push it together, KREM reported.
The Nordhagens are survived by their four children, 11 grandchildren and 23 great-grandchildren.