A Centralia woman that was ran over and dragged 40 yards tells her story on the one year anniversary of the incident.
Update on a story from March 21, 2023. On that date, Centralia resident Aimee Aud was allegedly purposefully ran over by 25-year-old Elizabeth McLaughlin. After a year of waiting, and a year of healing, it appears the state's attorney is preparing to try Elizabeth in court after several continuances by a few different defense attorneys. A violent crime victim advocate recently reached out to the victim. Aimee is very thankful that she may have some closure soon.
A little over a year ago, Aimee was hit and dragged under a Yukon as the driver sped away from the scene for approximately 40 yards until Aimee's mangled body broke free from under the vehicle.
On that particularly beautiful day, Aimee's boyfriend Jeff had his boss over to their home. Jeff Parker was currently running the business he worked at for his boss, Zackary Weaver. Zack had a medical emergency, while he was in the hospital for 3 days, he had Jeff run the business. He came to visit Aimee and Jeff when he was released from the hospital to discuss work since Jeff had handled everything.
Zack brought his son with him. His son and Aimee's son were playing in the backyard while the adults talked business.
Zack already wasn't feeling well that day and had a lot of business to catch up on, when his newly ex-girlfriend, Elizabeth McLaughlin, was seen driving around the house repeatedly. They had recently broken up and she wanted to talk. He did not want to talk. After circling the house many times, she parked on 6th Street on the south side of the house. After sitting there for 5 minutes while staring at the home and the children playing in the backyard, Aimee opened her living room window and told Elizabeth to quit parking and staring at their house. Aimee was concerned because her husband's boss had stated that his ex was just wanting "a fight." Aimee recorded herself asking Elizabeth to leave so Elizabeth could not twist the situation around. Aimee called the Centralia police department and they showed up quickly. She also warned Elizabeth she was going to call the police. That is actually when Elizabeth's sped off in the video.
The police took the report about Elizabeth stalking the home and began to drive around Aimee's home so they could, "Tell Elizabeth McLaughlin to quit driving past the house and parking next to it."
After police searched the area for a while they decided she must have driven somewhere else. While they drive out of the neighborhood to look for her, it is seen on video that Elizabeth pulls back up to Aimee's house. She did this while police were actively looking for her.
Alarmingly, she did not park on the south side of the home but instead she parked and purposefully blocked the driveway where her ex, Zack, could not get out. She was parked in the driveway and partially in the road, center to the driveway so no one could get out or in. Aimee turned on her phone camera so the police could see the interaction, yet again, so her words would not get twisted. Aimee's ex-husband's birthday was that day and he was coming to get the children to go out to eat. She stated she didn't need or want any kind of drama that day for her kids, herself, or her ex or her current significant other.
In the video, (which I cannot share because of the bodily fluids streaked down the road as well as the numerous broken bones and lacerations Aimee suffered), you can see Elizabeth seated in a large Yukon with two children in the back seat. Aimee walks towards the vehicle after stating from her front door that Elizabeth needed to leave. She walked towards the vehicle because her requests from the front door and front yard were not being listened to.
In the video, Elizabeth is captured screaming insults towards Aimee. Aimee responded to Ms McLaughlin by stating, "you have your kids in the car." She is recorded telling Elizabeth that her and Zack could speak whenever Zack wanted to speak to her, but currently he was at their house and was not interested in speaking. She explained that she did not want Elizabeth stalking her home or spying on herself or her children as she had been doing that day.
"I really thought because she had her children in the car, and she knew that Zack had just gotten out of the hospital, that she would just leave us alone especially after I told her that I called the cops for her prior behavior that day on and around my property," Aimee shares.
Suddenly, Elizabeth says, "I'm going to run you over," to Aimee. Aimee simply responds, "You're gonna run me over?" Immediately after that, and I mean not even one second, the video shows Elizabeth cranking her wheel as hard as she can towards Aimee. She then hits her gas while screaming and pointing (pictured below). Aimee is hit extremely hard. Aimee is seen trying to scramble and hold on to the windshield or the hood but instead she falls under the Yukon and is dragged under the vehicle for 40 yards. Jeff, and Zack both scream for her to stop. They chased after the vehicle that was going approximately 25 to 30 miles an hour.
"All I could do was think of my children and my mother. I thought that I was going to die. I felt my bones breaking and my flesh being ripped away. I screamed for my mother. I screamed for Jeff. I screamed for my babies. I screamed and begged for Elizabeth to stop," Aimee cried while sharing this with us.
Jeff knew he couldn't chase a car going that fast on foot so he jumped in his truck to chase Elizabeth so she couldn't flee the scene. Unfortunately, Elizabeth fled the scene. Jeff chased Elizabeth as she sped through town and squealed away. He turned back around and saw Aimee's crumpled body in the road. Aimee was drug on the curb and the road. She suffered life-threatening injuries.
Aimee suffered traumatic brain injury in this incident but she remembers an angel appearing out of nowhere, that angel is Centralia resident and good samaritan, Josh Elderd. He provided a tourniquet and immediate care to the wounds he saw. Aimee's Achilles tendon was physically ripped away from her body and hanging by a fiber. The men loaded Aimee into Jeff's truck and took her immediately to the hospital. Aimee had to be rushed to St Louis University trauma center. I cannot share the pictures here but they are up on my patreon right now. She was gravely injured.
At some point, while Aimee was at SLU with not only serious injuries but actual tire tracks on her body, Elizabeth turned herself in. She is charged with failure to report an accident / injury and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. She is court ordered to not speak to Zack, Jeff, Josh or Aimee.
Aimee is still recovering a year later. She is taking counseling and working through her traumatic brain injury as well as her severely damaged ankle. She broke four ribs and her collarbone as well as her ankle which are all riddled with arthritis now. She said, "some days I can barely get out of bed. I have PTSD, nightmares, I'm afraid to even cross the road or be around vehicles."
Aimee is learning how to live life again. She said she has to do everything so much more slowly after this incident.
One of her children was so distraught at what he saw before, during and after the hit and run that he had to stay somewhere else until he could handle the sight of his mother. This is a very tragic story for so many people. I'm happy to be able to share that it appears she will be receiving some amount of closure soon.
Aimee shares the following. I decided to close the story with this-
"My entire personality has changed after I was run over. I feel mad, sad, embarrassed that I can't move like others, depressed. I'm 33 years old but I do not feel that young at all. My kids and the others that I love are the only reason I have been able to move forward. This was a senseless act. I had nothing to do with their breakup whatsoever but I was run over and dragged like I didn't matter. She sped away and hid for hours after she hit me. I don't even like to leave my house. I will be honest, it feels nice being able to tell my story. I know there are good people out there that care. I appreciate all of the people who have supported me and I appreciate anyone and everyone that takes the time to read this story. I hope I see Justice in this case and I hope to heal enough to be the woman I was before I was ran over. I want to thank you Sarah for listening to my story. It means a lot to me that you watched the videos, read the facts, and validated me. Victims need validated sometimes. We can feel forgotten during the darkest times."
We will update this story. Our thoughts are with everyone involved.
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