Victims of Sunday crash included Arizona family members

A northwest Arizona mother and her two sons who were on their way home from a rabbit show in Reno were among the dead in a Sunday night crash northwest of Las Vegas, according to the Nevada Highway Patrol and sources in Arizona.

The three were southbound in a Toyota van at about 10:40 p.m. on U.S. Highway 95 near Lathrop Wells, about 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, when the van was hit by a Buick Sedan traveling north in the southbound lane, the highway patrol said.

The vehicles hit head-on and caught fire. The man driving the Buick also was killed.

The intense fire destroyed the vehicles and made it difficult to identify the victims, Trooper Jeremy Elliott said.

Officials have not yet released the names of the victims. But the Kingman Christian Church’s Facebook page and an email distributed to members of the local 4-H Club identified the Arizona family members as Golden Valley residents Joy Howell and her sons, Jesse, 12, and Justin, 9.

Elliott said there were cages in the van and a rabbit that was thrown from the vehicle cozied up to a trooper at the scene.

An account, the Howell Family Fund, was set up at Chase Bank in Kingman to help the family.