Rangers identify crash victims

Husband, wife die after being thrown from motorcycle

By Joe Beck -- jbeck@nvdaily.com

FRONT ROYAL -- A husband and wife died late Sunday after being thrown from a motorcycle they were riding on Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park.

Stephen M. Runfola, 59, and Calexandra D. Runfola, 54, of Warrenton lost control of the motorcycle at about the 7-mile marker near Gooney Run Overlook, according to reports from park rangers.

Warren County Fire and Rescue Chief Richard E. Mabie said Tuesday his department was called to the scene around 4:15 p.m. Paramedics found both victims in cardiac arrest, Mabie said.

Crew members managed to restore a pulse to both victims at the scene, but both were pronounced dead later, one at Warren Memorial Hospital in Front Royal and the other at Winchester Medical Center, Mabie said.

He did not identify which victim was transported to which hospital.

Park officials said the motorcycle continued on down Skyline Drive after the Runfolas were thrown from it. The motorcycle slid into the front of an approaching Honda Accord before coming to a stop, according to a report in park offices.

The driver of the car reported no injuries and no citations were issued, park officials said.
The crash was the second involving a motorcycle fatality on Skyline Drive in less than two months.

Joseph "Joey" Brandon Watson, 21, of Front Royal, died at the scene in late August after his motorcycle crashed head-on into an approaching vehicle about 42 miles south of Front Royal in Page County.

Park service officials said Watson appeared to be attempting to pass another vehicle on a curve when the crash happened.