Columbus Academy teacher and husband killed in crash on way to Sugar Bowl
Columbus Academy teacher Alicia Chaves and her husband, Cameron “Cam” Pytel, were killed in a car crash early Wednesday morning. The couple was visiting friends in southeastern Florida and had set out for New Orleans early that morning. Around 6:20 a.m., while on a dark stretch of Florida’s Turnpike, they came upon a crash between a car and semi-truck.
Florida Highway Patrol reported that they swerved to avoid the car, which caused their vehicle to go into the median and back into the northbound lanes where it toppled over and slide on its side into the semi-truck. Both Chaves and Pytel, along with their two dogs, died in the crash.
Columbus Academy will have counselors available for students and their families when classes resume on Tuesday. Chaves taught middle school Spanish and had been full time at the school since 2003. The school’s head of students, Melissa Soderberg said, “She was beloved, a very sweet person. We all benefited from her kindness.”
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