Mary Elizabeth Auch Hankins was 75 years old and driving her silver Toyota Venza on Highway 97. It was just after 1 o’clock on Wednesday afternoon, October 14. She was near the Cow Canyon Rest Area in Wasco County, Oregon, when she started a left turn.
The preliminary look by Oregon State Police shows her car pulled right in front of a southbound blue Volvo semi-truck. The truck was hauling a 53-foot box trailer. The driver was Muhammad Shafiq, 32, from Yuba City, California. He was not hurt.
The semi hit the Toyota hard. The force shoved the smaller car over an embankment. Both vehicles ended up off the east shoulder of the highway. Mary was pronounced dead right there at the scene.
Her passenger was Richard Thomas Hankins, 80, also from Portland. He took serious injuries. Crews called in Life Flight and flew him to a hospital. His condition after that was not released.
Troopers got help from the Wasco County Sheriff’s Office, Jefferson County Fire and EMS, and the Oregon Department of Transportation. The road itself stayed open. The investigation did not close any lanes.
Mary and Richard were both Portland residents. They were on that stretch of Highway 97 near milepost 69 when everything changed in seconds. The truck driver stayed at the scene and talked with police.
Police are still putting together the full picture of how the left turn lined up with the semi’s path. For now the facts stop at the impact, the embankment, and the two people from Portland who were in the Toyota.
Leave a Reply