DPS employee killed in crash north of Wickenburg

WICKENBURG, AZ - An Arizona Department of Public Safety employee who was killed along with two other people in a crash north of Wickenburg late Tuesday has been identified.

DPS spokesman Bart Graves said at 8:41 pm a Gray 1995 Ford Explorer was traveling southbound on US Highway 93 at milepost 188.

The SUV was traveling at a high rate of speed and might have been attempting to pass other vehicles before hitting a white Chevrolet Lumina head on in the northbound lane, said Graves.

The Chevrolet is a DPS vehicle and was driven by Matthew Uhl.

Graves said Uhl is a civilian rotary pilot and is assigned to Kingman Air Rescue.

He was on his way to Kingman and was scheduled to fly Wednesday. Uhl died at the scene.

Uhl is survived by his wife and three children.

The driver of the SUV and his passenger were also pronounced dead at the scene.

Their identities have not been released.

There no signs of impairment in either driver.

DPS initially said the DPS worker was an off-duty officer.

Both north and south-bound lanes were closed overnight, but were reopened before 5:40 a.m. Wednesday, according to the Arizona Department of Transportation.