By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – The teen who was one of the two individuals killed in a Highway 12 wreck on Monday morning was actually 15 years old, not 13 and had just started school at White Pass, according to authorities.
Garrett Underland was from Prosser and died following the collision involving a semi truck, a car and a truck pulling a camp trailer east of Randle, according to the Lewis County Coroner’s Office.
Initial information gathered by troopers had his age at 13, but Coroner Warren McLeod said he met with the boy’s parents on Monday night and got the correct information.
McLeod said the boy’s family are longtime friends with the couple in whose car he was a passenger.
“He came here to go to school in Randle,” Washington State Patrol Sgt. Mike Cournyer said.
Passenger Kerri M. Denniston, 39, of Randle, also died in the wreck.
The driver, her husband, Jeremy W. Denniston, 37, was transported to Tacoma General Hospital in critical condition, but Cournyer said this morning it sounds as though he is doing a little better.
Their 2000 Dodge Stratus was stopped to make a left turn into the Cascade Peaks Campground when a semi truck behind them failed to slow down and forced their car into the oncoming lane where it was hit by the pickup truck, according to the Washington State Patrol.
The collision remains under investigation.
Cournyer said the 79-year-old driver of the semi truck with two unloaded trailers was hauling produce for National Frozen Foods. The 2014 Kenworth was a leased truck, he said.
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For background, read “Investigation into double fatality Highway 12 crash continues” from Tuesday September 8, 2015, here
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
Seriously Sherry???? There are tons of laws, and strict laws for truckers already. Yes, this trucker is at fault. And some amazing people lost there lives. I pray for all who we’re involved. I knew the lady who got killed. However, people in cars are just as stupid and don’t pay attention. It’s not just truck drivers. If it weren’t for truck drivers you wouldn’t have shit. You wouldn’t have food, furniture, housing supplies, vehicles nothing if it wasn’t for truck drivers. Not all truck drivers are bad, just like not all people who drive cars are bad.
There have been studies showing that 80 year old drivers are as risky on the road as drunk drivers. These seasonal jobs driving corn trucks probably attract drivers who wouldn’t otherwise be driving semi trucks with double trailers. They are also probably under financial incentive to haul as much corn as possible during the short season.
Take a 79 year old man and put him behind the wheel of a semi for log hours and you have created a killing machine.
http://www.islandcrisis.net/elderly-drivers-vs-drunk-drivers/
Its so sad to see this happen. I think they need more tighter laws on the semi trucks. They don’t own the roads. But anyway, my condolences to the family that loss the love ones. Our world loss a very special angel in that crash. He still had life to explore but he had to go sooner then we all had hoped. So Garrett thank for felling some hearts with your special love. R.I.P: forever Garrett.
I was staying at the camp and was a first responder, helping attend to the victims. It was a hard scene to see but it was amazing to see how many people pulled together from all walks of life to help. There were several trained medical professionals there from the camp and we all worked together with what we had to try and help. My sincere condolences to all families involved, including the ones who died, who are still fighting for their life, the ones who were in the pickup and maybe a little banged up and to the driver of the truck as well who will have emotional trauma for the rest of his life. Also to all those who jumped in to help without any hesitance, and the ems who came to bring the patients to the hospital, it was inspiring to work with such a courageous group of people, working together to try and help. It revived my faith in humanity.
“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”- Mr. Rodgers
The Dot expects hundreds more to die before they fix the road and make it safe. In the meanwhile millions of tax payer dollars will be sent overseas to better the roads and infrastructures of other countries. Countless drone strikes that shoot 65,000 dollar missles at the rate of 100 per day could fix all of our roads with the money wasted in other countries. Our country is broken we are just the tax slaves for the elite.
And another semi-truck involved fatality. With another operator, of a quite advanced age, behind the wheel. Is the shortage of CDL drivers really that severe?
This is a tragic story. But I can’t help to wonder why people stop to make a left on a highway like that! I know it is legal but it is NOT safe. Happens all the time. I see it daily.