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BIG COTTONWOOD CANYON — Neighbors gathered Monday evening to pay their respects at the home of a West Jordan mother killed and her children who were injured earlier that day in a collision with a dump truck in Big Cottonwood Canyon.
The crash occurred in the Storm Mountain area along state Route 190 when a dump truck tried to turn off onto a runaway truck lane and collided with a car, said Unified Police Sgt. Melody Cutler.
The driver of the car, Jessica Keetch Minnesota, 36, of West Jordan, was killed in the crash.
Minnesota's 4-year-old son and 61-year-old mother were taken to hospitals in critical condition, and her 2-year-old daughter was seriously injured. The driver of the dump truck was also taken to a hospital in serious condition, Cutler said.
Monday evening, neighbors of the Minnesota family gathered on the street with ribbons and balloons. Dozens of people tied white, gray, and mint-colored ribbons – which they said was Jessica's favorite color – on lamp posts and trees. They also decorated the Minnesota home.
Jessica Minnesota was a speech pathologist at University of Utah Health's Craig H. Neilsen Rehabilitation Hospital, KSL-TV reported.
Cutler said the dump truck driver told police his brakes had failed.
"Unfortunately as you come through the split rock ... anyone who's driven up here is very well aware the visibility is almost nonexistent," Cutler said.
"Unfortunately there was a car coming up as he was crossing that line to go into that mountain, and the two vehicles collided. They'll do a thorough investigation to determine exactly what happened. They'll be able to determine if the brakes were out, all of those factors that would have played into this."
Transportation officials cautioned travelers to avoid the area Monday and to expect delays as the road was closed in both directions.
Friends set up a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for medical expenses and funeral arrangements.
Contributing: Lauren Steinbrecher, Arianne Brown
