A confused, possibly inebriated driver identified as Paul Michael Mumford, 36, of West Jordan took the lives of at least three people and one in the hospital fighting for his life in an horrific car crash Friday evening near Wendover.
A mother, her two daughters, one a teen and the other an infant, were pronounced dead on the scene while the father of the family of four was airlifted to a Salt lake area hospital. the three killed were identified Monday as Delphine John, 44, and her daughters Delilah Ramirez, 20, and Anaya Adame Orozco, 3, of Farmington, Utah. The only occupant of the SUV who survived was identified as Jose Fidel Adame-Orozco, 36.
According to Utah Highway Patrol reports shortly before the crash several calls of an erratic pickup truck driver were received around 6:30 p.m. Friday.
Witnesses told police the driver of a pickup truck identified as stopped in the median at one point, and another driver told him he needed to stop driving. Another driver, who had observed the pickup truck driver’s alleged reckless driving, also pulled into the median and confronted him. The pickup truck driver then turned around and drove west on I-80. According to UHP, the pickup driver then made a U-turn and drove east on the westbound lanes, ultimately colliding head-on with the Suburban at 80 mph.
The pickup truck driver turned around and went the wrong way in the westbound lane, eventually crashing head-on with a Suburban at 80 mph.
The Suburban involved in the incident had the engine knocked out of it. Alcohol or drugs may have been involved, police said.
UHP confirmed an Delphine John and her daughters Delilah Ramirez and Anaya Adame Orozco died in a crash. The fourth passenger in the vehicle, the father, is in critical condition. Utah Highway Patrol said it appeared the teenager and infant were not wearing seatbelts.
Mumford, the driver of the pickup truck was taken to the hospital and is expected to live.
The crash occurred around 7 p.m. near mile marker 29, 30 miles east of the Utah/Nevada border.