A driver who died in a truck-versus-motorhome collision last week has been identified as a Grants Pass woman.
According to Sgt. Bob Fenner, Oregon State Police (OSP), the deceased was Heather Church, 34. Positive Identification was possible only after an autopsy, since Church's vehicle caught fire after the crash and her remains were badly burned.
Fenner said the autopsy was completed Wednesday. The cause of death was determined to be blunt force trauma. Church died of massive internal injuries before her vehicle became engulfed in flames, Fenner noted.
The collision took place around 6:36 p.m., May 20, at milepost 62 on Highway 140 West, near the Running Y Ranch. Fenner said the black Chevy pickup truck Church was driving was reported to have been traveling at high speeds and making unsafe passes before the impact.
The eastbound pickup crossed into the lane of a westbound motorhome, resulting in a head-on collision. The driver and passenger of the motorhome were identified as Alice Ann Cornwell and Ralph Henry Cornwell, of Eureka, Calif. They were both transported to Sky Lakes Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries.
Highway 140 was briefly closed following the crash.