SEATAC, Wash. — Four years ago, a deadly vehicle crash near SeaTac killed one man and injured several others.
It was initially thought the crash only involved two vehicles, a shuttle bus and a BMW, but the King County Sheriff's Office Major Accident Response and Reconstruction (MARR) Unit determined a third car was involved.
Detective Jeanne Wolford lead the investigation which uncovered that information.
“I just wanted closure for Bryan's (the victim's) family and for everybody involved," the detective said.
Det. Wolford said all the work she and her team did to figure out the cause behind the deadly crash was for the victims. It was a painstaking investigation, she said.
Along with gathering video showing the wreck, Wolford subpoenaed data from rideshare operators because she had a hunch: the third car they were looking for was a rideshare driver. That hunch was correct. This process took months, but eventually, Wolford was able to find the third car and driver involved.
Both drivers in the cars were convicted of negligence, a misdemeanor.
"It was a lot of work for two misdemeanors," Wolford said. "At the end of the day, I'm not looking to get the big felony. I just want to bring something to conclusion, to the truth."
On Monday, Wolford was honored for her extensive work on the case.
"I was really flattered when I get the call from Karen Koehler's office," Wolford said of learning that the surviving victims wanted to donate a large sum of money to a cause of her choice. Wolford decided to bestow the surprise gift on her alma mater, Central Washington University.
"If I can help one student a year to pay their tuition, maybe they'll come work for us someday," Wolford said of the scholarship money.
$85,000 is now in an endowment at Central Washington University to be used for scholarships for the university's Law and Justice Program. Wolford is an alum of that program.