Diary raises questions about car crash

The diary a 21-year-old prostitute had with her Wednesday when she swerved head-on into the path of an oncoming van near Beatty has authorities, if only temporarily, speculating whether Jamie Jean Ericsson may have been suicidal.

Pages of journal entries color a life of pain and heartache, and a map found in the Reno woman's 1988 Isuzu marked a route to the Chicken Ranch brothel in Pahrump. Yet whether they spell out intent to cause the deadly crash in which she and three others died, however, is an issue that can't presently be answered, said Trooper Scott Flabi, Nevada Highway Patrol spokesman.

"She could have fallen asleep, or she could have been reaching over to grab a cassette when the accident happened," Flabi said. "The reason we are also considering a possible suicidal angle is the journal we found in the car. The (entries) are real depressing ... they almost make you cry."

Investigators have determined that Ericsson was on her way back to Reno around 3:40 p.m., heading north in U.S. Highway 95's single southbound lane about 90 miles northeast of Las Vegas, when she hit a 1997 Chevrolet van carrying six relatives home from a family reunion.

Ericsson, who was traveling alone, died instantly. Killed in the van were driver James Richard Phipps, 64, of Gilbert, Ariz.; Bettie Phipps Craig, 63, of Sunray, Texas, and another woman whose name has not been released.

The van's other passengers, identified as Wood Craig, Robert Norris and Ann Marie Norris, were taken to University Medical Center. They remained hospitalized this morning in stable condition.

"Had we not found the very depressing journal, we probably would've just said inattention," Flabi said. "The way she went off the road -- it wasn't real sudden, she drifted, but it wasn't a jerky movement. The van's driver tried to steer away to avoid the crash, but it didn't seem like she did."

Without disclosing its contents, Flabi said the diary has provided investigators with leads they were looking into today. Authorities can't ignore the book but say they recognize that evidence of a troubled person's life doesn't necessarily spell suicide.

Still pending are the results of routine toxicology tests to determine if alcohol or other intoxicants were factors in the crash.

The Chicken Ranch declined to make any comment in the NHP's investigation.

Flabi said he spoke with the manager of the Mustang Ranch in Northern Nevada where Ericsson worked as a prostitute from May through July of this year before going to work for the Old Bridge Ranch brothel next door.

"She confirmed that Jamie was a girl with lots of problems, that there was always something going on with her," Flabi said. "One thing the manager did say, though, was that the last time she saw Jamie, that Jamie seemed pretty upbeat."

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SUN Reporter Jace Radke and wire reports contributed to this story.

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