High-Speed Crash Kills Post Falls Woman Passenger Injured When Vehicle Split In Half By Tree In Bonners Ferry
A 24-year-old Post Falls woman died early Monday when her speeding Honda struck a tree, broke in half and sailed 120 feet before crashing to the ground in Bonners Ferry, Idaho.
Shawna N. Siver, formerly of Bonners Ferry, was killed instantly, according to the Idaho State Police.
A passenger, 24-year-old Deborah Cheathan of Naples, Idaho, was listed in stable condition at Boundary County Community Hospital in Bonners Ferry.
Idaho State Police Cpl. Brian Zimmerman said Siver was driving her red 1982 Honda eastbound on Oak Street near a turn in the road at 3:24 a.m.
The speed limit there is 20 mph, but police believe the car was traveling much faster than that.
Siver lost control at Oak and Georgia streets and struck a tree 4 feet in diameter about eight feet from the side of the road.
“They hit the tree sideways, into the driver’s door,” said Zimmerman.
“It broke the ‘82 Honda in half.”
Neither woman was wearing a seat belt, and both were thrown from the car.
“The surviving passenger landed 112 feet beyond the tree,” said Zimmerman. Miraculously, medics couldn’t find any broken bones.
Witnesses told police Siver had been drinking, and alcohol is believed to have been a factor in the crash, police said.
Siver had driven to Bonners Ferry to visit her mother. She dropped off her 6-year-old daughter, Arlaina, and went out visiting friends and playing cards.
Siver worked as a waitress at the Rosauers restaurant in Coeur d’Alene, her mother said.
“She just loved being around people,” said Karrell Siver.
“She was a wonderful person.”
Funeral services are slated for Thursday at the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Bonners Ferry.
A time hasn’t been set.
Karrell Siver remembered her daughter as an artist and a loving parent.
“She was just a really devoted mother, and it kind of took up all her time,” said Karrell Siver.
“She talked about going back to school. I always took it for granted that she’d be an art major.”
, DataTimes