Arizona Couple Dies In Highway 97 Accident

An Arizona couple died in a three-vehicle accident in Sherman County on Friday afternoon.  The Oregon State Police says the accident happened at around 2:15 p.m. on Highway 97.  A preliminary investigation revealed a station wagon driven by 58-year-old Masiel Pete of Maricopa, Arizona, was southbound when he lost control on a slush covered roadway.  Pete’s vehicle crossed into the northbound lanes where he sideswiped a commercial motor vehicle that was pulling a box trailer driven by 51-year-old Cary William Pickner of Eagle Creek.  After sideswiping the truck, Pete was struck broadside by a northbound pickup driven by 25-year-old Anthony Guerrero De La Paz of Moses Lake.  Pete and his passenger, 50-year-old Debra Mary Grosbusch of Maricopa, were pronounced deceased at the scene.  Pickner, De La Paz, and De La Paz’s passenger, 20-year-old Rachel Nicole Tapparo of LaVerne, California, were transported via ground ambulance to Mid-Columbia Medical Center in The Dalles, where they were treated for non-life threatening injuries.  Speed and road conditions are being considered as possible contributing factors in the crash.