Quincy woman, 1 other die in crash

COLFAX - Two Eastern Washington University students, including a 21-year-old Quincy woman, died in a crash Friday on U.S. Highway 195 near Colfax.

Nancy G. Zepeda Zarate, 21, of Quincy, and Ashley M. Gonzalez, 21, of Pasco, were passengers in a 1999 Volkswagon Jetta when the driver of the vehicle, Erica Polito Mosso, 21, of Tonasket, turned into oncoming traffic about 4:45 a.m., colliding with a semi-truck pulling two trailers, according to the State Patrol.

The two woman were reportedly not wearing seatbelts at the time of the crash and pronounced dead at the scene.

Mosso was transported by MedStar to Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane. Another passenger, Carmen Gomez Villalpando, 22, of Walla Walla, was transported to Whitman Hospital and later released.

Mosso and Villalpando were wearing seatbelts, according to the State Patrol.

The driver of the semi-truck, Virgl Baumgarden, 54, of Spokane Valley, was uninjured in the crash.

The four people in the Volkswagon are students at Eastern Washington University. School President Rodolfo Arevalo issued a letter to EWU students and staff Friday.

"This is a very difficult day for the whole EWU community," he wrote. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to all the families and friends."

A campus memorial will be planned.

The State Patrol is investigating the cause of the crash.