68-year-old ‘wonderful human being’ killed when tree crushes SUV, Idaho cops say
A 68-year-old woman was killed in a “freak accident” when a fallen tree crushed her SUV in Idaho, police and multiple news outlets reported.
The woman, identified in media reports as Diane Williams, was driving her Honda CRV at 9:54 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 4, in Coeur d’Alene when a tree planted in the median fell across traffic lanes and crushed her vehicle, Idaho State Police said in a news release.
Williams, of Post Falls, was alone in her vehicle and died at the scene, police said.
There was no wind when the tree fell, the Coeur d’Alene Police Department told KREM.
Now friends and family of Williams are grieving her death.
“Truly a huge loss to our family,” her brother, Tom Collins, told the news outlet. “A great sister and a wonderful human being all her life.”
Beth Rich, a close friend to Williams, told KXLY that her friend had moved to Post Falls six years ago but had already made many close friends and started a successful dog daycare.
“There are so many people who are so endeared to this woman,” Rich told the news outlet. “I have never in my life met anybody in my life who is as kind, and considerate, and generous, and caring as Diane Williams.”
Rich shared photos of the two on her Facebook page.
“We are all still in shock and disbelief. She touched so many lives and will be missed and remembered,” she wrote in a Nov. 5 post.
Coeur d’Alene is near the Idaho-Washington border, about 35 miles east of Spokane, Washington.
This story was originally published November 7, 2023 at 12:15 PM with the headline "68-year-old ‘wonderful human being’ killed when tree crushes SUV, Idaho cops say."
