Cars Collide, Killing Four In Puyallup Third Vehicle May Have Been Harassing One Of The Drivers

Four people died in a two-car collision, and a third car was being sought in the investigation, police said.

The dead were twin sisters, the husband of one and the fiance of the other.

A southbound car turning left from South Meridian, a major thoroughfare approaching the South Hill part of town, collided with a northbound car shortly before midnight Saturday, Sgt. Joe Sokolik said.

Four of the six people in the turning car, all seated on the passenger side where the other car hit, were ejected and died.

Darrin Grube, 27, of Aberdeen, and Lori Cornwell, 26 of Hoquiam, were pronounced dead at the scene.

Gary Stoken, 27, of Hoquiam, Cornwell’s fiance, died at Good Samaritan Hospital in Puyallup.

Cornwell’s twin sister, Cori Grube, Grube’s wife, died after being flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

The other two people in the turning car, one driving and the other seated behind the driver, and the two occupants of the northbound car were treated at Good Samaritan for non-life-threatening injuries.

There was no evidence that alcohol or other drugs were involved in the crash, but speed may have been a factor, investigators said.

Police were seeking the occupants of a white Volvo or Volkswagen Jetta or Golf that was seen cruising beside the northbound car but apparently escaped any impact in the collision.

Sgt. Roger Cox said some witnesses reported a car the same color as the northbound vehicle being driven erratically in the area.

There were also indications that the white car was being driven to harass those in the northbound car, alternately speeding up and slowing down, and the driver of the northbound car may have been trying to get away, Sokolik said.

Much of Puyallup was clogged with traffic leaving the Western Washington Fairgrounds, but the section of Meridian where the crash happened was less congested, officers said.