4 survivors of tree-fall crash on Highway 2 awarded $10 million

SEATTLE TIMES

September 5, 2014
By Alexa Vaughn
Twitter @alexavaughn
avaughn@seattletimes.com

Four survivors of a 2012 tree-fall crash that killed parents Cheryl and Tim Owen near Stevens Pass are far from being completely healed physically and emotionally. 

The couple’s once-athletic daughter, Jessica Owen, 29, mostly relies on a motorized wheelchair and hopes to teach again. Daughter Jaime Owen Mayer, 26, who leans on a cane to walk, feels robbed of decades more she could have had with her parents. Their son-in-law, Steven Mayer, 27, walks with forearm crutches and has several more surgeries ahead of him. Self-described mama’s boy Jeremy Owen, 23, still isn’t used to not getting checkup calls from his mom. 

But they hope the healing process can move more smoothly now that their claim against the state has been settled for $10 million. 

“We hope that by financially acknowledging our loss, the state will be more proactive in protecting the traveling public from known dangers,” the family said in statement Friday.

The Owen family, who lived in Bothell, were headed to Leavenworth in Chelan County, for a Christmas vacation on Dec. 21, 2012, when a huge tree slammed onto their SUV. Cheryl, 56, and Tim, 58, were killed instantly.