Fatal accidents in Box Elder County and Utah County bookended a tragic day on the roads Tuesday.
Aquistin Isas Rios, 76, of Ogden, and Maria Esther, 67, of St. George, were killed early Tuesday morning in a two-stage accident on Interstate 15 near Lindon.
An afternoon accident involving a driver education vehicle claimed the life of Virginia Goodrich, 77, of Bear River City.
Rios and Esther are the parents of the driver and grandparents of two boys, ages 3 and 4, who were also in the Jeep Cherokee traveling northbound near Lindon at Mile Marker 274 when it was involved in a collision around 3:30 a.m.
The Jeep first rear-ended another vehicle, possibly a semi trailer, said Utah Highway Patrol spokesman Cameron Roden.
The initial crash disabled the Jeep. When the driver got out to check on the passengers, the Jeep was struck by a small bread-delivery truck, a UHP report stated.
The driver of the Jeep and the two small boys were uninjured, as was the driver of the bread truck, but Rios and Esther died at the scene.
Esther appears to have been unbuckled at the time of the second crash and was thrown from the vehicle.
UHP continues to investigate the accident. Damage to the Jeep Cherokee is consistent with hitting a semitrailer in the first collision, Roden said, but the semi has not been found and its driver may not have been aware of the accident.
Goodrich was killed just before 5 p.m. in an accident on the I-15 overpass in Elwood.
Goodrich was traveling north on State Road 13 in a 1994 Buick Century when a 2007 Chevrolet Impala appears to have attempted a left-hand turn in front of her.
The Chevrolet, a driver education vehicle owned by Box Elder School District, was driven by a not-quite-16-year-old female and had stopped after exiting I-15 at Exit 376 before being struck, according to a UHP release.
Goodrich appears to have been driving the speed limit, but was not wearing a seat belt when her Buick hit the Chevrolet on the driver’s side, Roden said.
Emergency responders found Goodrich unresponsive at the scene, and she was declared dead at Bear River Valley Hospital.
The driver of the Chevrolet, a male driver education instructor and another passenger also were taken to Bear River Valley Hospital. The driver suffered possible broken bones and the others had minor injuries, Roden said, but they were treated and released.
Lane closures blocked the road for about two hours during the emergency response to the accident.
Once the investigation is complete, the case will be turned over to the Box Elder County District Attorney’s Office to determine if charges should be filed.
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