SYRACUSE — For the second time this week, a traffic accident in Gallia County has claimed the life of another Meigs County resident.

The Gallia Meigs Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol reports Sharon S. Rizer, 56, of Syracuse was killed in a one vehicle crash which occurred at around 11:50 a.m. on Wednesday on Ohio 7 in Gallia County.

Lt. R.E. Grau reports Rizer, who was driving a 2000 Oldsmobile Bravada, was traveling southbound on Ohio 7 when she drove off the right side of the road and lost control. Rizer was partially ejected from the vehicle. She was pronounced dead at the scene by Gallia County Coroner Dr. Daniel Whitley and later transported to Holzer Medical Center.

Riding in the right, front passenger seat in Rizer’s vehicle was Corey J. Reitmire, 18, also of Syracuse. Reitmire was flown by air medical helicopter to St. Mary’s Medical Center in Huntington, W.Va. after being completely ejected from the Bravada. Yesterday a spokesperson for St. Mary’s classified Reitmire’s condition as stable.

The crash remains under investigation. This is the second rural traffic fatality in Gallia County this year. It is the fifth rural traffic fatality with eight persons killed in the Gallia and Meigs County area this year. On Tuesday, Rachel Kristin Smith, 27, of Middleport died at Holzer Medical Center from injuries she sustained in a motorcycle accident also on Ohio 7 in Gallia County. Hobart R. Childress, 50, of Long Bottom was also killed in a crash involving a motorcycle and pickup truck on Ohio 124 in the Letart area on Saturday. This means three Meigs County residents have been killed in traffic fatalities in less than a week.