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THE
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2012
PRINCE
GEORGE
CITIZEN
IT'S WHAT MATTERS
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CITIZEN PHOTO BY CHUCK NISBETT/SUBMITTED
Friends of Jonathan and Emily Altizer from Westwood Elementary and PGSS stand at a candlelit memorial Friday evening, above. Leah, Emily, Matt and Jonathan Altizer smile for the camera, below.
FATAL ACCIDENT
P.G. couple celebrated marriage as a ‘Perfect Match’
Also inside:
• Heather Kress mourned at Simon Fraser Lodge, PAGE 5
• Ingenuity, passion defined Altizer's love of tennis, PAGE 5
• P.G. students remember the Altizers, PAGE 5
• The loss of one of our own, EDITORIAL, PAGE 6
Ted CLARKE Citizen staff tclarke@pgcitizen.ca
Leah Altizer found the perfect 15th wedding anniversary card for her tennis-buff husband Matt.
The plain white card featured a pair of crossed racquets with the words ‘Perfect Match.’ Inside the card reads - Advantage: Me - and Leah signed it - “Happy Anniversary to my partner for life.”
They lived happily married for 16 years in a loving family with their son Jonathan, 14, and daughter Emily, 12, until their lives ended tragically Thursday morning in a terrible highway accident that also took the life of
Matt’s 47-year-old sister Heather Kress.
The sport utility vehicle Matt Altizer was driving crossed the centre line and collided head-on with a transport truck on Highway 97 north of McLeese Lake.
All five occupants of the vehicle are believed to have died instantly. The family was travelling to Vancouver to watch the Davis Cup professional tennis matches, which started Friday.
Leah, 35, loved being a parent, as did Matt, and their lives revolved around their kids. They were planning a family trip to Mexico in April to celebrate their 16th anniversary and had the kids’ passport photos taken earlier this week.
— see ‘WHAT, page 5
Road was icy, say truckers
Frank PEEBLES Citizen staff fpeebles@pgcitizen.ca
Initial reports that Highway 97 was bare when a fatal accident occurred Thursday morning are being disputed by truck drivers
on the road at the time. And investigators have also amended their earlier statements to say there may have been moisture.
A black ice patch is now reported to have been on the road at the spot where SUV driver Matt Altizer mysteriously devi-
ated from his lane into the path of an oncoming tractor-trailer. All five people in the vehicle died. The truck driver sustained non-life threatening injuries.
The crash occurred near the communities of Macalister and McLeese Lake sometime before
9 a.m. The Altizers were on their way to Vancouver. Witnesses told police their vehicle had been proceeding normally until it suddenly crossed the centre line.
Neal Cook, a chip truck driver, was in the line of halted vehicles
that couldn’t get past the crash scene. He was close enough to the front to observe almost everything of the fiery aftermath.
“I’ve driven that road for over nine years, five days a week,” he told The Citizen.
— see ‘YOUKNOW, page 3
Hub
city
Intermodal facility could be key link
SPECIAL REPORT 17
Mountie
shooting
suspect
arrested
CANADA 14
Organize out ofchaos
AT HOME 33
Today's Weather
Hi 0° Low -5°
See page 2 for more details and short-term forecasts
ANNIE'S MAILBOX 37 CROSSWORD 38 MONEY 22-24
BRIDGE 37 ARTS 37-40 OPINION 6
CLASSIFIEDS 25-27 HOROSCOPE 2 SPORTS 9-12
COMICS 38-40 LETTERS 6 WEATHER 2
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