Monday, March 17, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
Two Escondido, Calif., residents were killed on Interstate 15 after an 18-wheeler hit their car, causing a seven-vehicle pileup.
At 10:50 p.m. Sunday, six southbound cars had slowed on I-15 at Spring Mountain Road, but the tractor-trailer rig's driver, Stephan Whipple, 51, of Hopkins, Mich., failed to slow down and hit a 1996 Mitsubishi.
Ruth Barachman, 80, and Pamela Santalucia, 41, were killed instantly.
Seriously injured were William Gross, 49, of Escondido; Ronald Cohen, 20, of Henderson; Jacqueline Jones-Mosely, 36, of Las Vegas; and Ger Xiong, 30, of Las Vegas. They all were taken to University Medical Center for treatment.
Whipple, en route from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles International Airport, was not injured. He could face charges for not slowing down and causing the chain-reaction pileup, Nevada Highway Patrol Trooper Steve Harney said.
Traffic on I-15 was backed up until 3:30 a.m. today.
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