Deadly Accident Blocks I-90 Woman Killed When Smashup Sends Car Into Oncoming Traffic

An Idaho woman died Monday afternoon in a gruesome three-car accident on Interstate 90 near the Liberty Lake exit.

The crash left two cars mangled, flipped another vehicle and ejected one driver onto the pavement.

Two drivers were flown to Sacred Heart Medical Center in medical helicopters. A third was taken there in an ambulance.

The Washington State Patrol reported late Monday that one of the drivers - Sharon Deffenbaugh, 46, of Rathdrum - died at the hospital.

Lori Anundson, 17, of Post Falls, was in critical but stable condition Monday night. She is under investigation for vehicular homicide, police said.

Eastbound traffic backed up for more than a mile, frustrating commuters for more than an hour.

Two westbound Hondas collided about 3:30 p.m. The white Honda Civic hit the shoulder, flipping onto its roof.

Anundson’s black Honda Accord careered across the wide gravel median into oncoming traffic.

It then collided with an eastbound Ford Tempo, driven by Deffenbaugh.

Anundson was thrown from the vehicle, and the mashed Ford settled on the shoulder.

The Ford was so crunched that emergency personnel had to pry the roof off to remove Deffenbaugh.

Troopers said Anundson had been speeding.

Denise Boggs, 33, of Spokane, was driving the white car. She suffered some head wounds, troopers said. Her condition was not available at press time.

There were no passengers in the cars.

Gordon Atkins saw the ricochet accident unfold from the seat of his truck.

The Ryder driver was hauling a double-decker trailer full of new cars when a black car suddenly shot across the median in front of him and into the eastbound lanes, he said.

The subsequent collision was fierce, Atkins said, but noted he had no problem braking his truck in time to avoid the wreckage.

Rick Keeling, battalion chief for the Spokane Valley Fire Department, said it was the first time in 22 years of responding to accidents that two helicopters were used to evacuate victims.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo; Map of crash site