UPDATE, Monday, 6/20: KIEM reports that hitchhiker killed in the crash was 48-year-old Hugh William Grant III of Klamath.

# # #

Original Post: CHP press release:

On Thursday, June 16, 2016, at 6:09 pm, 21-year-old Adrian Pollock of Eureka, CA, was driving her 2008 Dodge pickup eastbound on SR-299 at the East Fork Campground, just west of Willow Creek. Her passengers were her two young children, her husband, her friend, and a hitchhiker. For reasons still under investigation, Ms. Pollock lost control of her vehicle in a left hand curve and ran off the south roadway edge of SR-299.  The pickup overturned and the hitchhiker, seated in the right front seat, was fully ejected and sustained fatal injuries.  All surviving occupants were transported to Mad River Community Hospital in Arcata with minor injuries.  The children were properly seated in child passenger safety seats and were uninjured.  Ms. Pollock was subsequently arrested for vehicular manslaughter and booked into the Humboldt County Jail.

The identity of the deceased passenger is withheld pending notification of family.

DUI was not a factor.  The roadway was not closed.  The vehicle was not impounded.  The California Highway Patrol (CHP) Humboldt Area is investigating this traffic collision.