Havasu Doug
Pisces
HDF Gold Supporter
Delta Tau Chi - ΔTX
  
North Padre Island, Texas
Posts: 12,193
APPD 1.45
Post Rank: 7
'78 Challenger jet
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Posted: May 23 2005,11:16 pm |
Post # 1 |
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| Quote | Monday, May 23, 2005
4 from Orange die in desert head-on
The two couples’ SUV collides near Needles with a car whose driver may have fallen asleep.
By JOHN McDONALD
The Orange County Register
NEEDLES – Two couples from Orange were among five people killed in a head-on crash in the desert near the Nevada state line, officials said.
The collision occurred shortly before noon Sunday on Route 95, about one mile south of the state line, California Highway Patrol officer Michael Callahan said.
All four people in one vehicle, all residents of Orange, were killed. They were: Stephen Costello, 40; his wife, Katina Costello, 37; Andrew Warren Vanderlaske, 39; and his wife, Rhonda Vanderlaske.
CHP reported that the two couples were southbound on 95 with Stephen Costello at the wheel of a Honda Pilot SUV. Another couple from Hemet was northbound in a Toyota Corolla. The man driving the Toyota veered into the oncoming lane. Investigators were trying to determine whether he fell asleep or suffered a medical problem.
The Toyota burst into flames, and the driver was burned beyond recognition.
The passenger in the Toyota, Lauren McCormick, 59, of Hemet, was the only survivor of the collision. She was taken to a hospital in Las Vegas with third-degree burns.
Callahan said the stretch of two-lane undivided open-desert highway is essentially straight but the collision occurred at the crest of a hill.
"They only had a few seconds to see the oncoming car and try to get out of its way," he said.
Witnesses in a car following the Toyota gave investigators much of the account they have obtained so far, Callahan said. |
I know some on this board, including me, knew Rhonda Vanderlaske (Otting).  Â My condolences to her family and the families of the others involved.
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