RIFLE, CO — Two teenagers from the Glenwood Springs area died early Sunday in a wrong-way crash on Interstate 70 just east of Rifle, according to the Colorado State Patrol. Authorities said the collision happened in the westbound lanes near mile marker 93 and involved three vehicles.
The Garfield County Coroner’s Office later identified the victims as 18-year-old Reese Allen of Silt and 17-year-old Kyle McKinney of Glenwood Springs. Both were pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of a semi involved in the crash was not hurt.
How the crash unfolded on westbound I-70
State Patrol said it responded at about 2:36 a.m. Sunday to the crash near Rifle. In its preliminary investigation, the agency said McKinney was driving a blue 2022 Subaru eastbound in the left westbound lane of the highway.
At the same time, a 35-year-old man was driving an orange 2026 Peterbilt semi with a trailer westbound in the right lane. Allen was also traveling westbound in a gray 2004 GMC Yukon in the left lane and was passing the semi when the collision happened.
Head-on impact set off a chain reaction
According to Colorado State Patrol, the Subaru struck the Yukon head-on in the left westbound lane. After that impact, the Yukon hit the trailer behind the Peterbilt semi.
The crash combined a wrong-way vehicle, a passing maneuver, and a tractor-trailer moving in the opposite direction on the same stretch of interstate. Investigators have not said why McKinney was traveling eastbound in the westbound lanes.
Coroner says both deaths were from blunt force injuries
The Garfield County Coroner’s Office said investigators were dispatched to the crash at about 2:57 a.m. Sunday. Autopsies completed Monday found that Allen and McKinney died from blunt force injuries.
The coroner’s office listed the preliminary manner of death for both teens as accidental. The office said the cause and manner of death remain under investigation, and State Patrol is still reviewing the circumstances of the wreck.
Westbound lanes closed for the investigation and reopened by 8 a.m.
The westbound lanes of I-70 were shut down while authorities worked the scene and gathered evidence. The closure lasted for several hours before traffic was allowed back through the area.
State Patrol said the roadway reopened at about 8 a.m. Sunday. The crash remains under investigation by the Colorado State Patrol, which has not released any additional findings about what led to the wrong-way entry or the sequence of events.
A deadly early-morning crash near Rifle adds to interstate safety concerns
The wreck happened on a busy mountain corridor that carries local and long-distance traffic through Garfield County. Even before sunrise, the stretch near Rifle brought together passenger vehicles and a commercial semi, leaving two young drivers dead and one truck driver uninjured.
For people in the Rifle, Silt, and Glenwood Springs area, the crash also underscored how quickly a wrong-way incident can turn fatal on a high-speed interstate. Officials have not said whether impairment, fatigue, distraction, or any other factor played a role.
Local news that matters, from Dulaney Griffin.
