PYSHT — A young man and three teens from Clallam Bay were killed Saturday morning after the car they were riding in plunged off state Highway 112 and landed upside down in the Pysht River, trapping them inside.
A spokesman from the State Patrol said a 1997 Geo Metro driven by 20-year-old John Anthony Hubble was heading westbound on Highway 112 between 1 a.m. and 6 a.m. when it failed to negotiate a curve near milepost 27, about a mile east of the Pysht River Bridge.
The car left the roadway, hit a stump and became airborne, flying about 20 feet upward before dropping off an embankment, according to Trooper Brian George.
Pinned inside were Hubble; Cassidy Hunter, 16; Damien Anderson, 18; and Erik Kroeger, also 18.
George said an officer from the state Department of Corrections was returning from his position at Clallam Corrections Center at about 6 a.m. when he saw the car in the water.
The officer and a passerby with a wet suit entered the water and unsuccessfully attempted to right the car before calling 9-1-1, he said.
Dispatchers summoned a dive team from the Port Angeles Fire Department, but canceled their request after it was determined the vehicle’s occupants were not alive.
Crews from Clallam County Fire District No. 5 responded to the scene and waited until a tow truck arrived to pull the car out of the muddy river waters.
The vehicle’s top was crushed almost to the level of its doors and the windows were broken out, but all four occupants were secured with seatbelts.
Traffic along the highway was limited to one lane for several hours while troopers supervised the car’s removal and investigated the crash scene.
