1 killed, 3 hurt in another deadly Highway 395 intersection crash
One person is dead after a two-car crash Sunday in the northbound lanes of Highway 395 near the Country Mercantile store north of Pasco.
Three others were injured in the 10 a.m. collision at the Crestloch Road intersection with the highway, according to the Washington State Patrol.
Initial reports of the crash by first responders said one of those taken to a hospital appeared to be critically injured.
Patricia Wallum, 73, of Vancouver, Wash., was driving a Chevy Trax south on Highway 395, and Aroldo R. Gomez Jovel, 48, of Deer Park, Wash., was driving a Toyota RAV4 north on the highway, according to the WSP.
Wallum attempted to make a left hand turn across the northbound lanes of Highway 395 onto eastbound Crestloch Road toward the Country Mercantile store.
She failed to yield and her SUV was hit by Govez Jovel’s SUV, according to the WSP.
Her passenger Mark Wallum, 76, of Vancouver, died. Another passenger Michael C. Lee, 18, of Vancouver, was hurt.
Both drivers and Lee were taken to Kadlec Regional Medical Center in Richland.
Kadlec said Sunday afternoon that Govez Jovel had been released after treatment. No information on the other two from the crash was immediately available.
Everyone involved was wearing a seat belt, according to the WSP.
Crestloch Road serves agricultural areas on either side of the divided state highway and the popular Country Mercantile, which has a deli and sells fresh produce and specialty foods, is on the southeast corner.
One northbound lane of Highway 395 was closed for several hours Sunday as the Washington State Patrol investigated.
This was the second fatal crash and third death in two weeks on Highway 395 in rural Franklin County.
On Aug. 12, a Richland woman and her teen passenger were killed in a two-car crash when they failed to stop for traffic on Highway 395 in Pasco.
Rafaela Alquicira Huipio, 50, was driving west on Foster Wells Road, which is south of Crestloch Road, and was trying to cross the highway, according to the Washington State Patrol.
She cleared the northbound lanes but then did not yield to southbound traffic, according to the WSP. Her Geo sedan was hit broadside by a Toyota Tacoma pickup, according to the WSP.
Huipio and her daughter, Yureli Ontiveros Alquicira, 17, who would have been a senior at Richland High this year, died before they could be taken to a hospital.
This story was originally published August 24, 2025 at 1:28 PM.