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A 38-year-old Prescott Valley woman died Wednesday afternoon in a collision involving two sport utility vehicles on Highway 87, just north of Payson.
Lisa Goff, died on scene after being partially ejected from a green Ford Escape, said Department of Public Safety Sgt. John Whetten.
Four other people were injured, one critically.
Whetten gave the following account of the incident.
The Escape, apparently being driven by Goff's 16-year-old daughter, was southbound on Highway 87 in a narrow section of road near milepost 256 around 12:45 p.m. when it went off the right side of the road and up an embankment. The Escape then came back down into the northbound lane and was T-boned by a gold Kia Sorento heading north.
The Sorento spun around 90 degrees before stopping. It "laid down some skid marks" trying to stop and avoid the Escape, Whetten said.
The Escape landed on its roof and partially ejected both mother and daughter. Neither was apparently wearing a seat belt.
A hydraulic tool was used to remove the 16-year-old who was trapped between the dirt shoulder and the car. She was airlifted with life-threatening injuries.
The three people in the Sorento were also airlifted but with non-life-threatening injuries.
All were taken by ambulance to The Home Depot Depot where the Hellsgate Fire Department, along with the DPS and Payson Police had set up a landing zone for the helicopters.
Four separate helicopters then took them to Valley hospitals.
Three were taken to Scottsdale Healthcare Osborn Hospital and one was taken to the John C. Lincoln North Mountain Hospital.
Both lanes of traffic were diverted for more than an hour and the road re-opened at 3 p.m. The crash occurred around 1 p.m.
Goff's husband told Whetten the family was camping off Hardscrabble Mesa Road and the pair was driving into town while other family members stayed behind at camp.
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