Family of Beltway Crash Victim Seeks Answers

BETHESDA, MD — Family members of a Halethorpe truck driver who died Friday when his tractor-trailer slammed into a concrete barrier on Interstate 495 are pleading with witnesses to come forward.

Dennis Frampton, 47, was thrown from his truck about 4:40 a.m. on Feb. 19, in a crash on westbound Interstate 495 east of Connecticut Avenue. Maryland State Police say Frampton’s truck struck and split the concrete traffic barrier and overturned.

Frampton was thrown from the truck and found unconscious at the scene; he was pronounced dead at Suburban Hospital.

Multiple pieces of the concrete barrier and debris were scattered on the inner and outer loops of Interstate 495. The fuel tanks of the truck tractor ruptured in the crash, leaking diesel fuel onto the interstate. Cleanup of the crash site kept lanes closed for hours.

Vicki Frampton told WUSA her husband was devoted to his family and community. The father of two grown children supported a local school book drive and was a youth softball coach and a player in area leagues.

The family wants to know what happened that morning and urge witnesses to contact investigators.

“He was a very experienced driver....very safe,” Vicki Frampton said. “He was always looking out for other people on the road. I think he could have swerved to keep from hitting somebody.”

Anyone with information about the fatal crash is asked to contact the Maryland State Police Rockville Barrack at 301-424-2101.

Photo: @mcfrsPIO