Sedona AZ (June 9, 2015) – UPDATE – On Sunday, June 7, 2015 at 1:30 p.m., there was a head-on collision involving two vehicles on SR 89A just east of Rolling Hills Dr. in Sedona.
At the time Sedona PD officers were on the scene investigation of the collision, the Sedona Police Department received information from Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office of a suicidal subject and were attempting to locate him and his white Jeep Cherokee. The driver and vehicle were confirmed to be the same subject and vehicle involved in this collision.
Ross “Scott” Willoughby, age 48, of Cottonwood, was the driver of that white 1996 Jeep Cherokee identified by YCSO. He was pronounced deceased on scene. An autopsy by the Coconino County Medical Examiner’s office has revealed that Willoughby died of a bullet wound consistent with that of a self-inflicted gunshot.
The second vehicle traveling west on SR 89A was a gray 2015 Toyota Prius, driven by Moorthy Somashundaram (33 years old) of Phoenix. His wife, Swapna Ponnambalam (29 years old) was in the front passenger seat and his mother-in-law, Bhuvaneswari Ponnanbalam (66 years old ) of India was in the backseat of the vehicle. Somashundaram and his mother-in-law were pronounced deceased on scene. Swapna Ponnambalam was air-lifted to Flagstaff Medical Center. She is in critical condition.
The Sedona Police Department is continuing the investigation of this collision.
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Sedona AZ (June 8, 2015) – On Sunday, June 7, 2015 at 1:30 p.m., there was a head-on collision involving two vehicles on SR 89A just east of Rolling Hills Drive in Sedona.
Ross Willoughby, age 48, of Cottonwood, was traveling eastbound on SR 89A near Rolling Hills Drive when his vehicle went into on-coming traffic hitting another vehicle. Willoughby was pronounced deceased on scene and the other vehicle had three occupants; the driver and a backseat passenger were pronounced deceased on scene and the front seat passenger was air-lifted to Flagstaff Medical Center with life threatening injuries. All three occupants are believed to be from the Phoenix area. Detectives are still working to make next of kin notifications.
The highway was limited to one direction of travel until 6 p.m. All traffic from Uptown had to be routed south on SR 179. The roadway was re-opened at 8 p.m. The Sedona Police Department was assisted on scene by Sedona Fire District personnel, DPS and ADOT.
This is an on-going investigation.
