Missing wife, kids hit by train

A Spokane man who reported his family missing Monday night learned several hours later that two of his children are dead and a third is hospitalized along with his wife, after their van was hit by a train in Eastern Montana.

The auto accident occurred nearly 800 miles from the family’s South Hill home and some 17 hours after Thomas R. Nelson left for work. He told police that he thought his wife and kids would be spending the day running errands, but later learned that they hadn’t made it to a doctor’s appointment for one of the children.

Nina Nelson and her 3-year-old son, Conor, survived the crash that occurred about 2:50 a.m. Tuesday near the North Dakota state line, a Montana Highway Patrol spokesman said.

The Nelsons’ 1-year-old son, Finnerty, and 5-year-old daughter, Lianne, died at the scene.

Nina was in stable condition at St. Joseph’s Hospital Center in Dickinson, N.D., a hospital spokeswoman said Tuesday.

Conor was in critical condition at Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare hospital in St. Paul, Minn., a spokesman there said.

The 33-year-old woman and her three children were reported missing Monday night by her husband, said Spokane police spokesman Cpl. Tom Lee. Nina Nelson’s out-of-state trip was unplanned, her husband told police.

Officers were sent to the Nelsons’ South Hill home about 9:55 p.m. Monday, Lee said. The husband told police he last saw his wife and children about 9:30 a.m., before he left for work.

They were planning on running errands Monday, and one of the children had a medical appointment, he said. They didn’t keep the doctor’s appointment, he said.

As part of the routine questioning for a missing person report, Thomas Nelson told officers that he and his wife weren’t having marital problems, Lee said.

Police broadcast a bulletin late Monday to be on the lookout for Nina Nelson’s van.

About 2:50 a.m. Tuesday, the Montana Highway Patrol responded to a crash east of Wibaux, Mont., a spokesman said. It appeared the vehicle left the road while eastbound on Interstate 94 and went through a fence.

The van ended up on a BNSF Railway track where it was hit by a train hauling coal.

The crash was under investigation by the Montana Highway Patrol.

Based on the published birth announcements, all three children were born at Deaconess Medical Center in Spokane.

Lianne, 5, and Conor, 3, attended Lincoln Heights Elementary School’s preschool program, officials said.

The elementary school principal was unavailable for comment.

Thomas Nelson told police he worked at Eastern Washington University.