DPS worker remembered after deadly crash near Wickenburg

WICKENBURG, AZ - An Arizona Department of Public Safety employee who was killed along with two other people in a crash north of Wickenburg is being remembered.

DPS spokesman Bart Graves said Matthew Uhl was a civilian rotary pilot, a husband, and father of four.

"He was just well thought of by his colleagues and just really enjoyed the freedom of being a pilot in a helicopter,” Graves said.

Around 8:45 p.m. Tuesday, 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 driven by Uhl, said Graves.

He was on his way to Kingman to work a shift for a colleague when he was killed in the crash. Uhl died at the scene.

“Matt loved the fact that he could get in a plane and fly to the most beautiful, scenic spots of this tremendous state of Arizona, land somewhere in a remote area and see miles and miles of open, beautiful green terrain,” he said.

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.