Victims named in fatal wreck Tuesday near Rifle

Garfield County Coroner Robert Glassmire has identified the victims of a crash Tuesday on Colorado 13 near Rifle.

Dewey J. Tafoya, 79, of Craig was the driver of a pickup truck that collided head-on with a semi tractor-trailer rig driven by Nathan L. Nazer, 59, of Roosevelt, Utah. Both men were killed.

The accident occurred at about 4:15 p.m. Tuesday and led to a prolonged closure of the highway north of Rifle for clean-up and accident investigation.

 Autopsies performed Wednesday showed that both men had multiple injuries of the head, neck, and chest.  The cause of death was multiple blunt force injuries and the manner of death was accidental.

The Coroner’s Office is working with the Colorado State Patrol, Vehicle Crimes Unit, regarding other details of the crash investigation.