Details of Motor Home Accident on I-15 Emerge

The five couples--all members of the same family--had just finished a Valentine’s cruise to Mexico and agreed to drive the motor home in shifts back to Utah to avoid getting road weary.

But as some played Scrabble in the back, the driver apparently fell asleep, crashing and killing five people, authorities said. Five others were injured, and three of them remained in critical condition Saturday, hospital officials said.

The accident occurred Friday afternoon when the motor home drifted into the median of Interstate 15 in the Mojave Desert, about 120 miles northeast of Los Angeles, and hit an emergency crossover road.

The chassis became embedded in the 10-foot-high crossover, while the passenger compartment separated, flipping up and going over the crossover lane.

The dead were identified Saturday as the driver, Joseph Jewkes Jr., 68, and his wife, Karen, age unknown, of Sandy, Utah; Clemont Atwood, 75, and his wife, Marcella, age unknown, of Hurricane, Utah; and Cleora Clark, 50, of Price, Utah, according to San Bernardino County coroner’s investigators.

Clark’s husband, Alva, 57, had minor injuries and was treated and released, the California Highway Patrol said.

The motor home was owned by Atwood, patriarch of the family. Driving with him were his wife, their son and their three daughters along with each sibling’s spouse. They were returning to Utah after going on a Mexico cruise that departed from Los Angeles on Valentine’s Day.

Jay Dinkleman, 37, and his wife, Ruth Ann, 36, of Wellington, Utah, were hospitalized at San Bernardino County Medical Center. Dinkleman underwent surgery on his left leg Saturday morning. He was listed as stable, nursing supervisor Helen Ramirez said. Ruth Dinkleman was in critical condition in the intensive care unit. The nature of her injuries was not disclosed.

Another couple, Atwood’s son, Gary Atwood, and his wife, Patricia, ages unknown, of Price, were in critical condition Saturday afternoon at Loma Linda Medical Center. No details were released.

In Utah, all 10 were members or former members of the Wellington 2nd Ward of the Mormon Church, and Clemont Atwood was a former bishop of the ward.

“They did so much for this community,” Leon Davis, bishop of the ward, told the Salt Lake Tribune newspaper. “Clemont raised a wonderful family, all his kids were so good. They were a real close family.”

Friends said it was Clemont Atwood who spearheaded the Mexico cruise vacation.

“Taking a vacation together was just the kind of thing they would consider and when they saw a good deal on cruise tickets they jumped at the chance,” Davis said.

The cruise ship left Feb. 14 and docked in Los Angeles on Friday morning, a survivor told county coroner’s spokesman Randy Emon. The survivor also said the couples had agreed to drive a maximum of two hours each to avoid dozing off.

A witness driving behind the crash told the CHP it appeared that Jewkes fell asleep.

On Friday, Davis consoled family members at the Dinkleman home. “It is just silence and solemnity around the house,” he said.