Two die in Seward Highway crash

KATE GOLDEN/Frontiersman reporter

A Wasilla man driving a truck leased from a company based in the Valley was involved in two collisions in two days on the Kenai Peninsula, the second crash killing two people.

Around 2:53 p.m., Gilbert D. Montiel, 50, of Wasilla, was headed north at Mile 56.8 Seward Hwy., on the Canyon Creek Bridge, when the tractor-trailer he was driving skidded across the center line into the opposite lane, according to an Alaska State Troopers press release. The 1985 Freightliner rig struck a 1991 Dodge Caravan head-on.

An emergency medical technician in training found Jay W. Stafford, 49, and his wife, Teresa Stafford, 41, both of Soldotna, dead at the scene.

"The frame height of the tractor-trailer is right about window level," trooper public information officer Greg Wilkinson said. "That thing went right over them."

Weather conditions and speed may have contributed to the collision, but the investigation is continuing.

Montiel has not been cited for wrongdoing in Wednesday's fatal crash.

One day earlier, Montiel's tractor-trailer slid out of control in slushy road conditions while heading east on Nash Road.

At Mile 1, crossing into the westbound lane, the truck collided with a 1995 Ford pickup truck operated by Zach Coots, 18, of Seward.

The pickup truck was forced down an embankment. Meanwhile, the tractor-trailer corrected back into its lane, then went off the road partially down the embankment, the trooper press release stated.

Montiel was cited for speeding.

Coots was wearing a seat belt. He was not injured. Damage to the vehicles, however, was estimated at more than $10,000.

After the crash, Nash Road was closed while heavy equipment pulled out the tractor-trailer.

Both days, Montiel was driving for K & K Enterprises, a Wasilla-based plow truck company. Tuesday was his first day of work with the company in more than a year, according to a K & K employee.

Montiel was not at the most recent number listed for him and could not

be reached.