JOYCE — A grandmother and her grandson were killed in a two-car collision on state Highway 112 on Sunday afternoon about 5 miles west of Port Angeles.
Mary Wyman, 60, and her grandson, Theodin Nelson, 6, both of Port Angeles, were eastbound on the two-lane highway near Power Plant Road and the Elwha River, said Trooper Krista Hedstrom, spokeswoman for the State Patrol.
Mrs. Wyman was the mother of Port Angeles City Council candidate Brooke Nelson, and Theodin was Nelson’s son. Darrell Nelson, Brooke’s husband and Theodin’s father, is an officer with the Sequim Police Department.
Two people in the other car involved in the collision — newlyweds Joshua Dickens, 24, and Emily Dickens, 22, of Vancouver, Wash. — were taken to Olympic Medical Center in Port Angeles.
Emily Dickens later was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where she was reported in critical condition and undergoing surgery late Sunday evening.
Hedstrom said Emily Dickens suffered lacerations to the liver and spleen and a cervical spine fracture.
The extent of Joshua Dickens’ injuries was not known, but he was reported in serious condition at Olympic Medical Center on Sunday night.
Married for six days
Joshua and Emily Dickens were married six weeks ago and were on the North Olympic Peninsula to visit family members.
All four people were wearing seat belts, the State Patrol said.
“The little boy was properly restrained using a booster seat,” Hedstrom said.
Troopers who were investigating the scene described the 1:15 p.m. collision.
Mrs. Wyman, who was driving a green 1997 Subaru Legacy eastbound on Highway 112, veered off the right side of the road and overcorrected.
The Subaru swerved back across the centerline, colliding head-on with the 1990 Toyota Camry driven by James Dickens.
Both lanes of the two-lane highway were blocked for most of the afternoon until the crash was cleared at about 5 p.m., Hedstrom said.
Under investigation
The cause of the crash remained under investigation, she said.
“We are still looking into what caused her to go off the road,” she said.
Neither drugs nor alcohol was a factor, Hedstrom said.
Brooke Nelson, a real estate agent, is currently running in the all-mail election for Port Angeles City Council Position 4 against incumbent Betsy Wharton.
Ballots in the election, which ends at 8 p.m. Nov. 3, were mailed to registered voters last week.
Nelson and her husband were attending an appreciation day ceremony for law enforcement and public safety officers at the Vern Burton Center in Port Angeles on Sunday when they were notified of the collision.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
