Last Updated on February 8, 2022 by CCAR Staff
A 63-year-old Temecula woman was killed in a freak traffic collision south of Hemet on Friday, Feb. 4, that has prompted the California Highway Patrol to hunt for a driver who fled after the SUV he was towing broke loose and smashed into the woman’s car.
Kathleen Hydrusko was pronounced dead at 8:17 p.m. on Cactus Valley Road, east of State Street, the Riverside County Coroner’s Office said.
Someone was using a black pickup to tow a black Ford Explorer, said Officer Jason Montez, a CHP spokesman. The Explorer was on a two-wheel trailer on which a vehicle’s front wheels rest, with the back wheels on the pavement. The Explorer somehow came off the trailer and rolled into the path of oncoming traffic.
The Explorer and Hydrusko’s silver Toyota RAV4 collided head-on, Montez said.
CHP investigators as of Monday did not know the make or model of the pickup, Montez said, and were attempting to reconcile various witness reports about the ownership of the SUV.
Anyone with information on the collision can call the CHP’s San Gorgonio Pass office at 951-769-2000.
