Attorney: Car In Fatal Accident "Took Off Like A Rocketship"

continue their investigation into a fatal car accident last month which killed a passanger, but a longtime attorney for the driver is shedding new light on what may have happened.

Merle Silverstein told Patch Friday that according to the daughters of Marvin Gelber, , Gelber and Sheila Weaver were returning to their home on Sackston Woods Lane, when Weaver got out of the car and got the couple's mail. Weaver got back in the vehicle but didn't re-fasten her seatbelt, according to what Silverstein's been told. Then, the car "took off like a rocket," Silverstein said.

Police said the car went through the backyard and then landed upside down in a neighboring yard, trapping both occupants. Gelber's seatbelt was fastened. Weaver died later that night at Mercy Hospital St. Louis. 

Silverstein told Patch Friday that Gelber is "badly bruised" and has been at an extended care center for rehabilitation. He said the 91 year old did not suffer a stroke, as some have suggested.

Silverstein's account matches the version of events which have been described around town in the weeks since the crash, but is the first Patch has been able to attribute to family members or associates of the couple.

A funeral service for Weaver was held last weekend. A moment of silence was observed at this week's Creve Coeur City Council meeting. Weaver was a member of the city's Economic Development Commission.