Victim in car-burro crash ID’d

Wednesday, June 26, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

SUN STAFF REPORTS

A driver who was killed when her car struck a burro on State Route 160 was identified as Theresa Joan Whitney, 49, of Pahrump.

Whitney had recently moved from Las Vegas to Pahrump, which Nevada Highway Patrol Trooper Steve Harney said could have been why she was not prepared to brake for the 500-pound animal that had wandered through the darkness into the eastbound lane about 4:30 a.m. Tuesday.

Investigators have estimated that Whitney's 1994 Chevrolet sedan was traveling about 55 mph when she hit the burro just 12 miles west of Interstate 15 and the Boomtown hotel-casino. The dead animal was carried 154 feet down the road and the car stopped 42 feet after that.

State Route 160, also called Blue Diamond Road, is the main highway between Las Vegas and Pahrump.

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