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Mother of driver in crash that killed George Fox student returns to scene

07:23 PM PST on Wednesday, November 21, 2007

By NANCY FRANCIS, for kgw.com

The mother of the wrong-way driver in the weekend crash that killed that driver as well as a George Fox University student returned to the crash scene in Sherwood Wednesday and planted a cross in their memory.

Watch KGW report

Sande Diller of Clackamas said her daughter Sydney had a, “huge heart. I mean huge.”

According to Sherwood police, 26-year-old Sydney Diller of Portland was driving the wrong way on Highway 99W near Edy Road around 1 a.m. Sunday. Her Ford Focus crashed head-on into a Crown Victoria carrying four students from George Fox University.

The Focus exploded into flames, and Diller was burned beyond recognition.

George Fox senior Cara Moran, 22, of Chandler, Arizona also died at the scene, reportedly of internal injuries.

The stretch of 99W where the crash occurred may be confusing to some and has a reputation for problems with wrong-way drivers, police said.

Sydney Diller’s mother said she was familiar with that area, and could see how someone unfamiliar with it could become disoriented.

“I used to go down this road two times a month and I know it,” she said. “But somebody who doesn't know this isn't gonna know that this is..there's a problem here. And I don't want any other parent to go through that.”

Police say witness reports indicate Diller drove the wrong way for two miles along 99W before the crash. Toxicology reports are pending.

Meantime, one of the George Fox students injured in the crash spoke to reporters from her bed at Emanuel Hospital.

Arianne Reagor, 21, a senior from Kelso, Washington has several leg fractures, a bleeding spleen and two small blood clots on her lung.

“I was going about 55 or 60 miles an hour. and there was a small hill so I couldn't see anything,” Reagor said. “All I see are these headlights and my friend, Cara was in the passenger seat. She said, ‘Oh my God, the cars going the wrong way.’”

The other two survivors also remain hospitalized. According to a statement from George Fox University, Faven Yirdaw, 22, a senior from Portland, remains in the intensive care unit at OHSU. Kim Cullen, 22, a senior from Kelso, Washington moved out of intensive care at OHSU Tuesday.

The Moran family will hold a funeral at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Chandler, Arizona Wednesday November 28 at 11:30 am.

Funeral arrangements for Sydney Diller are pending, according to friends.

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