HAZEL DELL WOMAN DIES IN CRASH
By MHARI DOYLE, Columbian staff writer
A 26-year-old Hazel Dell woman apparently drowned after the pickup truck she was a passenger in careened into the Washougal River late Saturday night.
The driver, Ryan Lee Moore, 26, of Washougal, walked away from the accident. When a passing motorists stopped to give him a ride, Moore didn't mention he had left the woman behind in the truck, according to Clark County Sheriff's Sgt. Craig Randall. Moore was arrested later on suspicion of vehicular homicide.
The passenger, Mary Lynn Hammond, apparently drowned, Randall said Sunday.
The Clark County Medical Examiner's office completed an autopsy Sunday but wouldn't release information on the cause of Hammond's death.
Clark County sheriff's deputies don't know yet what caused Moore's Toyota Tacoma to run off Northeast Washougal River Road and slide into the river about 10:30 p.m. Saturday. Officers said alcohol was a factor in the accident, but the results of Moore's blood-alcohol test won't be available for several weeks.
"He drifted off the roadway. He may have had suicidal tendencies," Randall said. "He wasn't taking evasive actions to stay on the road."
Sheriff's Deputy Alex Schoening said the truck slid down an 80-foot embankment before tipping over on the passenger side.
Schoening said after the passerby dropped off Moore, he drove back by the accident scene and saw rescuers attempting to pull the truck out of the river. He stopped and told officers where they could find Moore.
When officers went to Moore's house, he was threatening to kill himself.
"He had a gun in his hand, and he had to be talked down," Schoening said.
Schoening said there is no preliminary evidence that the truck had any mechanical failures, but the sheriff's office will examine the truck today.
"The car was a mess," Schoening said. "But there was no evidence on the roadway to suggest that a tire had blown. ... I didn't see any signs that he was braking or that the wheels locked."
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