Car crash leaves two dead near Hoover Dam

Jace Radke

Monday, Nov. 8, 1999 | 11:58 a.m.

A head-on collision between two cars a few miles south of Hoover Dam in Arizona Sunday night left two people dead and snarled traffic for hours.

The accident could have claimed even more lives if not for the actions of three passerbys who stopped to help, National Park Service Ranger Wes Houk said.

"It happened about 5:30 p.m. and the dam security officers were the first authorities on the scene, but they were helped by two firefighters who happened to be driving by," Houk said. "They were from Tulsa, Okla., and they were able to administer emergency help almost immediately after the accident.

"I don't know why they were there, but it was a lucky thing they were."

A BMW headed southbound on U.S. 93 collided with an Buick sedan traveling northbound about three miles south of the border on the two-lane highway stretching across the Arizona desert, Houk said.

The driver of the BMW, Melinda Shepherd, 25, of Tucson, Ariz., was killed, the Arizona Department of Public Safety said, as well as a passenger whose name was withheld until family members can be notified.

But three other people owe their lives to the two firefighters and another man who knew how to guide a helicopter into a landing site.

Shepherd's teenage brother and both occupants of the Buick needed to be helicoptered to medical treatment, but none of the Arizona Department of Public Safety Officers or park rangers at the scene had experience guiding in a helicopter landing. Luckily a passerby did.

"They needed help landing the helicopter and I've done it before, so I guided it in," said the man, who was a pilot and asked to remain nameless.

Like the pilot, the two firefighters left the scene after the injured were safely loaded into a medical helicopter.

Lionel Shepherd, 15, of Tucson, was in critical condition this morning at University Medical Center. Rafael Rodriguez, 21, of Mesa, Ariz., the driver of the Buick, was in fair condition at UMC, and his passenger, Ricardo Vasquez-Torres, 25, of Mesa was in serious condition at UMC.

Tractor-trailer driver Alan Buffington also stopped at the scene when he heard of the accident over his radio.

"When something like this happens in front of you it spreads pretty quickly over the radio to other truckers and to the police," Buffington said. "I pulled right up on it and there were a lot of people stopping to see if they could help."

Houk said preliminary investigation shows that the Oldsmobile probably crossed the center line and hit the BMW. Evidence of alcohol was found in the wreckage that was strewn across the highway, Houk said. However, Arizona troopers have not yet determined whether charges will be filed.

Authorities did not know the identities of those involved in the accident, but both cars had Arizona plates. The accident shut down both north and southbound traffic for nearly four hours.