Witnesses to fatal crash sought, State Patrol says

By Jerre Redecker | The Olympian • Published October 08, 2008

The Washington State Patrol said Tuesday it is looking for witnesses to a double-fatal collision on Interstate 5 on Friday near Grand Mound.

The Moyie Springs, Idaho, couple has been identified as Karl Heiss, 43, and his wife, Marisa Bauducco-Heiss, 41.

The couple's children, who also were in the car, have been identified as 10-year-old Aliana Heiss and 6-year-old Alden Heiss.

Aliana, who was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, has been released. Alden, who was in a booster seat, was transported by ambulance to a hospital, then airlifted to Harborview. He remains in serious condition.

Witnesses are asked to call State Patrol Detective Sgt. Jerry Cooper at 360-805-1192.

The couple was killed about 10:47 a.m. near milepost 88. It was raining and traffic began to slow. Bauducco, driving the 1995 brown Subaru Legend south, attempted to brake and lost control, traveling across the left lane and into the median. The car reportedly went under the cable barriers and collided head-on with a green 2007 Freightliner tractor-trailer rig going north.

The barrier did stop the two vehicles from crossing back into the southbound lanes, it was reported.

The driver of the Freightliner, 54-year-old Blake McDonald of Vancouver, British Columbia, was not injured.

Traffic backups were at least 10 miles both north and southbound.

It was the worst crossover collision in the area since the state installed the barriers there in 2004 and 2006, the state Department of Transportation said.