Giant Sink Hole Opens in Salt Lake City, Causes Fatal Car Crash, Killing Justine Barneck (PHOTOS)

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- A 15-year-old girl died after heavy rains caused a huge sink hole to open on a Utah highway, swallowing one vehicle and causing her father's SUV to careen off the road.

Authorities said the crash that killed Justine Barneck and injured her father, Michael Barneck, late Wednesday night happened when the road collapsed in front of them, leaving a patch of asphalt on the edge of the hole that the vehicle hit, causing the fatal accident.

At about the same time, a second car actually went into the 40-foot-wide, 30-foot-deep hole, said Utah Highway Patrol Cpl. Todd Johnson. The driver of that vehicle, 37-year-old Helen Paulson, was hurt, but the extent of her injuries was not immediately clear.

The accidents near Tabiona, about 90 miles east of Salt Lake City, came about 15 minutes after a heavy storm began at about 11:30 p.m., quickly overflowing a clogged culvert and washing out the two-lane state road, Johnson said.

Michael Barneck was taken to a hospital with head injuries and is expected to be released Friday.

MORE AMAZING SINKHOLES:

1 of 16

Utah Sinkhole Death

1 of 17

First Slide

Previous Slide

@

This image provided by the Utah Highway Patrol shows the wreckage of a car that ran into a hole, after heavy rain caused the collapse of State Road 35 that opened up a hole 40 feet wide and more than 30 feet deep. A teenage girl is dead and her father seriously injured after this SUV plunged into a hole in the highway near Tabiona, Utah early Thursday July 14, 2011.

Colombian Thieves Rob Internet Cafe But Forget To Log Out Of Facebook (VIDEO)

'Angel-Like Spirit' Caught On Security Cam Called A Hoax

gadgets/slideshows/201608/slide_201608_701617_small.jpg

Joe Salter, Triathlon Juggler, Completes Triathlon (VIDEO)

Susanne Eman, 800-Pound Bride, Fitted For World's Biggest Wedding Gown (VIDEO)

Alaska Lake Monster May Be Giant Sleeper Shark, Biologist Claims

Cocaine Tampons: Cindy Davidson Of Utah Finds Cocaine In Her Tampon Box (VIDEO)

This image provided by the Utah Highway Patrol shows the wreckage of a car that ran into a hole, after heavy rain caused the collapse of State Road 35 that opened up a hole 40 feet wide and more than 30 feet deep. A teenage girl is dead and her father seriously injured after this SUV plunged into a hole in the highway near Tabiona, Utah early Thursday July 14, 2011.

comments(65)

Total comments: 65 | Post a Comment

1 of 17

Justine Barneck was very close to her family, especially her twin sister, Jentri, who was not in the vehicle, said older sister Jamie Allred.

"She was an absolute angel," Allred said.

Allred said her sister's death was deeply felt in Tabiona, a town of a few hundred people at the base of the Uinta Mountains. She said the family has strong roots in the community, where one school holds kindergarten through high school students.

"She was more than willing to help anyone. I don't think there could be many 15-year-olds like her ... she was perfect from day one," Allred told The Associated Press.

All three people were wearing seat belts, Johnson said.

The highway will remain closed while repairs are made and traffic is being diverted.

Comments

[debbie Jarvis-watson]

11:55 AM on 08/15/2011

Just keep pulling that oil out of the earth. Something will have to fill the void.

[Otto Martin]

12:37 PM on 07/20/2011

2012 IS COMING... BEWARE OF THE WRATH, SINKHOLES EVERYWHERE... EARTHQUAKES... TSUNAMIS... HEAT WAVES... TORNADOES... THERE IS NO PLACE TO HIDE!

[AllowMeToObserve]

04:02 PM on 07/18/2011

SPAM ALERT

[AllowMeToObserve]

04:03 PM on 07/18/2011

SPAM ALERT

[PDXTransplant]

02:03 PM on 07/18/2011

Photo 7 always freaks me out! It's like out of a horror movie!

[CapsFan1988]

03:33 PM on 07/18/2011

i was thinking the same thing. i thought it was photoshopped at first. it looked way too perfect, and deep. however, looking at other pics of it, that sink hole is the real deal.

[we-r-stardust]

11:19 AM on 07/18/2011

SPAM

[Lahonda]

10:02 AM on 07/17/2011

Let's go play in the holes! What could possibly happen?

[stopnlisten]

12:02 PM on 07/17/2011

Better read up on what a sinkhole is....

[ptrgamb]

12:45 AM on 07/17/2011

I guess I'm lucky to live on a granite island

[Vic22]

09:17 PM on 07/16/2011

I'm no engineer, but could this have been prevented by fixing our infrastucture? How many bridges need to collapse, and sinkholes need to form before the House gives up trying to sabotage Obama, and instead tries to do thinks to fix our country and put people to work?

[zoni]

03:08 PM on 07/17/2011

Can you be that imbecilic? The first stimulus package, which was passed by democrat super majorities in the House and Senate, was supposed to go to "shovel ready" jobs, i.e. infrastructure. We the people were told this bill must pass immediately in order to save our country from economic collapse due to joblessness and infrastructure collapse due to the imminent formation of sinkholes. That $1T instead was used to bail out mismanaged public employee union pension funds and to save public union jobs so that union dues would continue to be collected by union bosses and then put into democrat campaign chests. The whole thing was a democrat money laundering scam. When that money "ran out" another $200B stimulus was passed (just a few months later!) to be used for the same "shovel ready" jobs, even though 60% of the first "dire emergency" stimulus had not yet been spent. (That 60% went pretty fast during the time dems were campaigning for last year's Nov. elections, though) Just a few weeks ago Obama laughed and said there is no such thing as shovel ready jobs when asked by an interviewer why the stimulus didn't create jobs like it was supposed to. About a year ago Pelosi was asked on the Charlie Rose Show where all the shovel ready jobs are and she said the same thing. Anyway, you can blame that first stimulus package for creating the Tea Party. And you can blame the dems for that sinkhole.

[PDXTransplant]

02:03 PM on 07/18/2011

Good grief are you off your rocker or what? Ha.

[TomMartin]

07:55 PM on 07/19/2011

Not all of the stimulus was supposed to go to infrastructure at all, only some. Anyway, without the stimulus the unemployment would have been worse. And now if Congress passes deep cuts, the unemployment will be much worse, and the government will have to spend much more on unemployment pay and food stamps.

[unclecrackre]

07:43 PM on 07/16/2011

Isn't is interesting how most of these sinkholes are almost perfectly round. The one in Guatemala seems to go on forever, can't even see the bottom, which leads me to believe it may be an ancient lava tube from an extinct volcano.

[Eve Marie Ruisi]

02:06 PM on 07/16/2011

why was a 15 year old girl driving her father at 11:30 at night?

[unclecrackre]

07:41 PM on 07/16/2011

The father was driving, duh.

[Thaag Tidestalker]

07:48 PM on 07/16/2011

Would you have felt better if she had been in a vehicle with a man not her father?

[YannosB]

10:09 AM on 07/16/2011

My heart felt sympathy for the family and friends of this precious life too soon gone from your midst. Stand in the memories of all she brought to your lives, it will help; though never clear the loss you now feel.

[1differentdrummer]

07:04 AM on 07/16/2011

What a horrible thing to happen. How terribly sad.

[Hg ore]

06:24 AM on 07/16/2011

The lead photo is the least visual, doesn't tell the story, like the second one where people are standing around the hole in the street. woah.

[AWL]

05:32 AM on 07/16/2011

Why has there never been a horror/disaster movie with a sinkhole theme? Get on that Hollywood!