Good Samaritan near Nashville in '02 sought on Facebook

An Ohio woman wants to find the good Samaritan who helped her family at a car accident scene near Millersville 13 years ago.

To help find the man, Maddie Williams posted a public Facebook status that has since had thousands of shares.

Williams was 4 when her family was in a serious accident near Millersville, which is about 15 miles north of Nashville.

Williams and her family were driving from Ohio to Texas to visit family. The accident occurred on June 15, 2002 around 6 a.m. The family drove a Toyota Tundra pulling a tandem wheel camper.

Williams was in her car seat at the time of the accident. A man pulled over and took Williams out of the damaged truck. He wrapped her in her dad's shirt as Williams' dad went to help Williams' mother and brother.

Williams' mother, Katie, died in the car crash, and Williams' brother, Daniel Williams Jr., was seriously injured.

Maddie Williams, now 18, said she's always thought about the good Samaritan. But she didn't try to find him until about two weeks ago. Williams posted a public Facebook status with details about the accident and why she wanted to find the man.

"He played a very important role at a horrific moment, and I want to be able to thank him," Williams wrote on Facebook. "Finding and thanking this man is something I’ve been wanting to do for years."

Williams' Facebook post had been shared more than 8,490 times as of Sunday afternoon.

"I honestly thought it'd get 100 shares tops. It was a huge surprise for me," Williams said.

Williams has received some good news since the Facebook post — some first responders to the accident said they'd look through through their notes and reports to try to identify who was at the scene.

But there have been no leads on the man's name or where he's from. Williams said she does not know if the man was a local resident or someone passing through the area.

Williams said she's not sure what she'd say if she finds him.

"I am still trying to figure that out," Williams said. "I'd just like to give a huge thank you."

Reach Melanie Balakit at 615-926-1638 and on Twitter @MelanieBalakit.