State officials have released the names of the two Colorado Department of Transportation employees and a passenger who died after the driver of a Jeep Grand Cherokee crashed on US 6 near Palisade on Wednesday.
Trent Umberger and Nate Jones were transportation maintenance professionals working in Grand Junction, the Colorado State Patrol said in a news release Thursday.
Umberger and Jones were repairing a sign on the side of US 6 between Palisade and Clifton in Mesa County when the Jeep driver struck them and their parked vehicle before rolling. Umberger and Jones died at the scene.
A passenger in the Jeep, Kathi Ann Wallace of Grand Junction, also died at the scene.
Wallace was the wife of the Jeep driver, who was treated for minor injuries and released from the hospital. according to Denver7. Investigators do not believe the disability was a factor in the accident.
Umberger was hired at CDOT in 2017 and also worked on a joint operations team that covered Vail Pass during the winter, state officials said Thursday. Jones began working at CDOT in 2022 and would become one of the first people to complete the agency’s maintenance apprenticeship program.
“Trent and Nate were beloved members of CDOT Region 3, Section 2 – remembered by their teammates as dedicated to their families and the traveling public and always willing to lend a hand to keep others safe,” CDOT Director Shoshana Lew said in a statement .
Colorado State Patrol troopers are still investigating the crash, Col. Matthew Packard, head of the agency, said in a statement.
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