by Marta Murvosh
* Updated *
Authorities this afternoon released the name of a 12-year-old Moses Lake girl killed Sunday in a motorcycle crash that seriously injured her stepfather on Highway 20, about two miles west of Burlington.
The victim, Jessica Kalles, died as a result of the crash, State Patrol troopers said. Her stepfather Bill Kalles, 54, of Moses Lake, remained in serious condition today at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where he was flown for treatment.
Bill Kalles was driving a 2000 Yamaha XVS65A motorcycle east on the highway near the intersection of Avon Allen Road, troopers said. Jessica Kalles was his passenger.
The motorcycle followed a 2003 GMC Yukon driven by a 36-year-old Bow woman, troopers said. An 82-year-old Bow woman drove west in a 2002 Dodge Caravan in the opposite lane of the highway.
The crash, which was reported just before noon, occurred when both the Yukon and the motorcycle slowed for traffic, said State Patrol Trooper Keith Leary.
Investigators think that the father couldn’t slow the motorcycle enough to avoid striking the Yukon and may have “laid down” the bike, Leary said.
The Yamaha and the girl slid into oncoming traffic and where both she and the motorcycle collided with the westbound van, Leary said. The father may have struck the Yukon, Leary said.
It was the second fatal motorcycle crash of the weekend in Skagit County. On Saturday, 31-year-old Bryan Dunham of Seattle died on Highway 530, east of Concrete, after losing control of his motorcycle and sliding beneath an SUV, troopers said.
A third motorcyclist died Aug. 17 from injuries sustained in an Aug. 14 crash on Chuckanut Drive. Shawn T. McCarthy, 35, of Marysville was driving north and crossed into oncoming traffic colliding with an SUV.
• Marta Murvosh can be reached at 360-416-2149 or .
