A 71-year-old Grand Junction woman died Friday afternoon after a head-on collision that closed I-70 westbound at exit 97 near Silt for nearly four hours.
The Garfield County Coroner’s Office investigators arrived at approximately 1:10 p.m. and pronounced the woman dead at the scene. An autopsy is scheduled for Monday, according to a press release from the coroner’s office.
The woman’s name is being withheld pending the notification of family who live abroad.
The woman’s husband was the driver of the vehicle, which was traveling eastbound and crossed the median at mile marker 97 into the westbound lanes. At least two other vehicles traveling westbound struck the couple’s vehicle head-on. The woman’s husband was transported to the hospital and does not have life threatening injuries. One additional person from another vehicle was transported to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries, according to the press release.
The Silt Police Department is the lead law enforcement agency investigating the cause of the crash. According to the press release, other responding agencies included Colorado River Fire Rescue, Garfield County Sheriff’s Office, Colorado State Patrol, and Colorado Department of Transportation.