Driver’s death saddens father whose son died in hit-and-run
Though he had every reason to be bitter, Richard Kortes said he felt only sadness to hear of the death this month of Tiffany Tweedy, an Ocoee woman convicted in the 2009 hit-and-run crash that killed his son, Rick.
Tweedy, 35, was found dead on Lust Road under a State Road 429 overpass June 7, about 2 ½ miles east of the Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive in northwest Orange County. Authorities don’t know or won’t say how she got there. The medical examiner’s office is awaiting a toxicology report before ruling on the cause of death.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Office refused to discuss Tweedy’s death and would not disclose on what side of the remote road her body was found, describing their investigation as “active and ongoing.” A news release noted “no trauma to the body.”
“I forgave her a long time ago. I found it was the easiest way to deal with my sorrows,” said Kortes, now 81 and living in Port Orange. “I hoped she’d find a happier life with a second chance at it, you know. She had a tough life.” His son was 50. Tweedy, who served about
four years and two months for the fatal crash Nov. 14, 2009, on Apopka-Vineland Road, was likely headed back to prison. Her probation officer recommended Orange County Circuit Judge John Jordan terminate Tweedy’s probation and send her to the state Department of Corrections, citing a series of violations.
In a brief phone interview, her family said those issues were resolved, but court records show they were not.
According to an affidavit filed in Orange County, Tweedy failed drug tests in December and January.
In December, she blamed a positive test for amphetamines and pain-killing opiates on diet pills.
In January, Tweedy attributed positive tests for amphetamines and methamphetamine to prescription medicine used to treat bronchitis and urinary tract infections. The lab reported the medicine, which carries a high risk for addiction and a warning that mixing with alcohol can be deadly, would not cause positive tests for either drug in her system.
In March, she was arrested in Lake County on a felony charge of organized fraud and three counts of forgery.
She was accused of swindling a Clermont bank of $1,400, records show.
Nonetheless, the judge released Tweedy on her own recognizance — without a bond requirement — and ordered her to enroll in STEPS Inc., a substance-abuse program licensed by the state Department of Children and Families. It has a residential treatment center for women in Apopka.
A GoFundMe account, established for funeral expenses by Tweedy’s sister Stephanie Spangler, described Tweedy as “a loving mother, daughter, and sister.” It raised $2,013. Tweedy was a mother of three, including a child who died of cancer.
Tweedy’s aunt Deidre Whigham, 55, said her niece never shed the burden of guilt about Kortes’ death.
Kortes’ father was incensed after the crash.
“It’s a shame the only thing left of our son is a urn of ashes on our memorial shelf,” he wrote in a 2011 letter included as part of Tweedy’s sentencing record. “May you always carry my son in your conscience until the day you die.”
But Kortes — who misses his son’s smile — said he changed his view over time, reckoning Tweedy struggled to cope with her own child’s death.
“I couldn’t blame somebody forever for an accident,” he said.
The FHP said Tweedy was driving a Chevrolet Suburban without a license — troopers said she never had one — when she rounded a curve, drifted into the northbound lane of Apopka-Vineland Road and sideswiped Rick Kortes’ motorcycle.
She then left the Suburban at the crash scene.
Tips to Crimeline and DNA on a steering-wheel cover and a foam cup in the vehicle led troopers to her.
Although Kortes’ view softened, his wife’s never did.
Mary Jane Kortes took her anger to the grave in April. She was 79.
“I’m not going to forgive you for leaving Rick to die in the dirt,” she wrote in 2011, addressing Tweedy.
Rick Kortes’ wife, Mary, now 47, also was unsympathetic.
She moved to Tennessee after she and her son, Jonathon, now 23, lost the family home to foreclosure, which she blames partly on Tweedy’s failure to pay court-ordered restitution.
“Now I’m getting my justice,” she said of Tweedy’s death. “Forgiveness? I’m still working on it.”