Ouray, CO : 1U.S. Highway 550 closed at Trimble Lane for fatal crash on Thursday, 22nd August 2019

Two Durango-area residents were killed in a head-on crash Friday on U.S. Highway 550, about 5 miles north of town.

Colorado State Patrol Capt. Adrian Driscoll said the crash was reported about 9:20 a.m. near Trimble Lane (County Road 252).

Based on the initial investigation, it appears a 2006 GMC Sierra pickup headed north on Highway 550 crossed the center line and hit a 2012 Audi Q5.

Authorities were unsure why the truck crossed the centerline, Driscoll said.

Both drivers died: Donald Jeter, 78, who was driving the GMC pickup truck, and Corey Wetherell, 38, who was driving the Audi.

Jeter moved to Durango in 1978 and was owner of CAL Steel & Sheet Metal.

Wetherell and her family moved from Houston to Durango in 2018, according to her friend, Allison Roan Wall, who co-owns the Balcony Bar & Grill. Her kids were entering first and fourth grade, she said.

“She was a wonderful mother and wife,” she said.

Highway 550 was closed about three hours as a result of the crash, reopening around 12:30 p.m.

Law enforcement and traffic control personnel were stationed at Trimble Lane on the north end of the closure, and Iron Horse Inn on the south end, directing drivers to alternate routes.

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