UHP officials ID victims in fiery wrong-way crash on I-15 in Woods Cross
By Gephardt Daily Staff
August 31, 2018
WOODS CROSS, Utah, Aug. 31, 2018 (Gephardt Daily) —
Utah Highway Patrol officials have now have identified all three three victims killed in a fiery crash Friday morning on southbound Interstate 15 in Woods Cross.
Killed were Samantha Sanchez, 23, of West Jordan and her passenger, Paul Joseph Durocher, 40, of Draper. They were in a Hyundai Elantra, which was struck by a Ford pickup being driven north in a southbound lane of I-15.
The pickup driver, also killed, has now been identified as Kristina Marie Colindres, 24, West Valley City.
The accident was first reported to 911 dispatchers about 1:15 a.m. When rescue crews arrived they found two heavily damaged vehicles, including a burning truck in the southbound lanes near mile marker 316.
According to UHP Lt. Mike McKay, the F-150 pickup truck was reported headed north in the southbound lanes of I-15 when seconds later it hit a small Hyundai passenger car head-on.
McKay said the F-150 caught fire after the crash and was engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived.
Sanchez and Durocher were dead when they were found, as was the pickup driver. Investigators could not initially identify the gender of the truck driver, now known to be Colindres.
Most of the early am crashes occur by drunk drivers or otherwise impaired drivers. So, always on the lookout for these people when you are on the road during these hours. Too late for poor Samantha Sanchez. She was so pretty. What a shame to be taken away so early from this world.
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WOODS CROSS, Utah --
Three people were killed in a head-on crash that closed southbound I-15 in the Woods Cross area early Friday morning.
Later Friday police identified the two deceased occupants of the Hyundai Elantra as 23-year-old Samantha Sanchez of West Jordan, who was driving the vehicle, and 40-year-old Paul Joseph Durocher of Draper.
The driver of the wrong-way pickup truck that collided head-on with the Elantra has been identified as 24-year-old Kristina Marie Colindres of West Valley City.
According to the Utah Highway Patrol, the crash occurred around 1 a.m. on I-15 near 2600 South in Woods Cross.
Southbound drivers were being detoured off at 500 South to Legacy Parkway, but as of just before 6:30 a.m. Friday crews had cleared the scene and traffic is moving again.
Police say the driver of the pickup truck was traveling northbound in the southbound lanes of I-15, where the truck collided with a Hyundai Elantra occupied by Sanchez and Durocher.
"We had a report that came in that the truck got on at 2600 South, " Lt. Mike McKay with Utah Highway Patrol said. "Within seconds of us receiving that report we had a collision, a report of a collision. The actual crash is about 300 yards north of the 2600 South ramp, so it’s very, very close to 2600 South. Not a lot of room to catch that truck."
Troopers say all three people were killed in the impact of the violent collision.
"There's a lot of debris across the roadway," McKay said prior to the road re-opening. "A lot of car parts and different items from the vehicles. We're working through that right now. I have several investigators here on scene that are mapping the accident scene and gathering information and evidence right now."
The crash remains under investigation.
The Durocher family released this statement:
Paul was from Oakland, Maine. He had 3 children he loved very much; ages 12, 14, and 19. Paul loved rock climbing, skiing, cooking, socializing, the ocean & mountains, and was a musician. He invested himself with technology and loved deep discussions about theology. He has lived in Utah for the past 8 years. He will be greatly missed by his family and friends. The family's heart goes out to the other family's lost in this incident.
Here is a photo gallery of victims Paul Durocher and Samantha Sanchez.