Normally the religious stuff is Dan's beat but, as the site's resident Catholic, I couldn't pass this one up.
Mysterious priest/angel appears at crash on Missouri Highway 19
Early Sunday morning, Tulane University sophomore Katie Lentz was driving her Mercedes along Highway 19 near Center, MO. She was struck by a drunk driver, and her car was instantly reduced to a twisted ball of steel. New London, MO. fire chief, Raymond Reed, arrived on the scene, but things looked bleak.
The older Mercedes was made of tough metal that was dulling rescue workers cutting tools, and they were having trouble freeing Lentz from the wreckage. Even if they managed to cut her out, there was concern that the sudden change in blood pressure would kill her instantly. There was little hope that she would escape the accident alive.
So, she asked if someone would pray with her.
It was then that a mysterious grey-haired priest appeared. He's been described as older gentlemen, clad in a black suit, with a black collar and white collar insert. In his hand he carried a small bottle of anointing oils.
"He came up and approached the patient, and offered a prayer,” Chief Reed said. "It was a Catholic priest who had anointing oil with him. A sense of calmness came over her, and it did us as well. I can’t be certain how it was said but, myself and another firefighter, we very plainly heard that we should remain calm - that our tools would now work and that we would get her out of that vehicle."
The man prayed, anointed Lentz, and stepped back. At that moment, fresh equiptment arrived, Lentz was freed, and she was evacuated to safety. She's in rough shape, but she'll survive. The rescue workers turned to thank their Good Samaritan, only to find that he'd vanished.
The road was blocked off for a mile in either direction and although there are over 70 photos of the accident scene, the priest appears in none of them. None of the locals who witnessed the event recognized him and, despite an ongoing investigation, he hasn't been seen since.
Some people think he was an angel, some suggest he was a man guided by God, and others just think he was a man who appeared at the right place and time. Whoever - or whatever - he was, the first responders would like to thank him.
"I think it's a miracle," Reed said. "I would say whether it was an angel that was sent to us in the form of a priest or a priest that became our angel, I don't know. Either way, I'm good with it. We would like to find this gentleman and be able to thank him. As a first responder, you don't know what you're going to run into. We have a lot of tools, and we have intensive training. In this particular case, it is my feeling that it was nothing more than sheer faith and nothing short of a miracle."
Here's the story from KHQA TV, as well as a link to a USA Today report on the matter.
