NORTH BEND, Wash. – The guest of honor at a family Father's Day party was killed along with his wife and two relatives when their car hit an elk.
A fifth relative was critically injured after Jesus P. Reyna swerved to avoid hitting one elk but hit another early Sunday on Interstate 90 (search) about 40 miles east of Seattle, Lt. Colleen McIntyre said.
"The elk basically took the whole front end of the car and the windshield out and incapacitated the driver," McIntyre said. "It looks like the driver never had the opportunity to brake."
The car then tumbled over a 60-foot embankment and landed upside down on a road below the freeway.
Killed were Reyna, 26; his wife, Josefina Alvarez, described by relatives as in her early 20s; his uncle, Rafael S. Gonzalez, 42, and Gonzalez's son, Enrique Gonzalez-Reyna, 19, all of Mabton.
Leonardo Gonzalez-Reyna, 20, another son of Gonzalez, was thrown from the car and listed in serious condition early Monday.
Only Reyna and his wife were wearing seat belts, investigators said.
The elk was killed.