Three, Including 2 Kids, Die In Crash

TACOMA - A head-on auto collision between Tacoma and Puyallup left three people dead, while police searched for the driver of a third vehicle that struck one of the wrecked cars.

Shortly after midnight Saturday, a 29-year-old Tacoma woman was driving with her three children in a sedan southbound on River Road when the driver of a pickup crossed the center line and smashed into them, the State Patrol said.

Minutes later, a van in the southbound lane struck the sedan. The van then left.

Yvonne Heatherly was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center, where she was listed in serious condition with massive head injuries. Her two sons, Joshua and Tristan Thompson, ages 5 and 6, were pronounced dead at the scene, along with Alvaro Gonzalez, the 23-year-old driver of the pickup.

Heatherly's 4-year-old daughter suffered only minor injuries. Gonzalez's 5-year-old daughter, a passenger in the pickup, was uninjured.

Police are looking for a brown or rust-colored full-size van, with windows on all sides, and damage to its front and left sides.

People with information are asked to call the patrol at 253-536-4374 or 253-536-6210.