PRAIRIE GROVE -- A police captain said Monday that last week was the first time in his 18 years with the Prairie Grove Police Department that he knows of officers in the city working back-to-back fatalities on two days, and one of those fatal crashes took the life of a well-known local animal advocate.

"It's definitely something new for us," Capt. Jeff O'Brien said. "It caused a lot of work on the officers, and they are still investigating them."

O'Brien said the last time the department worked two fatalities was in 2007, and that was from a single incident involving a drunk driver.

While both accidents are still under investigation, O'Brien was able to give more information on them than previously reported.

In the first collision, Travis Samples, 38, of Fayetteville died from injuries

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