Three Arizona kids orphaned when parents die in head-on crash

Three young children in Arizona were left orphaned last week when their parents both died in a collision while the family was en route to a vacation, local outlets said.

Greg Cox, Lindsey Watson and their three children were traveling from Flagstaff to the San Juan River when a semi-truck struck the family’s vehicle while trying to overtake another car in a no-passing zone of Highway 160 on Oct. 10, 3TV/CBS 5 reported.

Cox and Watson died at the scene, according to the Arizona Department of Public Safety (DPS).

The couple’s daughters, ages seven and five, were flown to Phoenix Children’s Hospital, where they are still recovering, a GoFundMe set up by relatives explained.

The youngest child, a one-year-old boy, was treated locally and has since been released to the care of loved ones.

“Honestly, it’s like the worst possible thing to happen to any kid,” Watson’s friend and colleague Rachel Kalnbach told the outlet of the couple’s deaths.

Kalnbach worked with Watson at Threaded Together, a sewing-based nonprofit the latter founded in 2019, the outlet explained.

“It’s a mother’s worst nightmare,” fellow Threaded Together worker Eileen Baca added.

“Lindsey was a pillar of this community. She gave and gave and gave and asked what else she could give.”

In addition to her work with Threaded Together, Watson was also a trained acupuncturist and a dedicated mother.

“She was always talking about her babies,” Baca remembered.

Just a few days before the crash, Watson was chatting excitedly about the Halloween costumes she planned to make for her children, Kalnbach said.

“Her dreams touched a lot of people in this community. We are grieving at Threaded Together, but the community is grieving big time,” she lamented.

Cox worked as a physician assistant at Flagstaff Medical Center, the outlet noted.

Both husband and wife were remembered as “beautiful souls” in a Facebook tribute by one of many heartbroken friends.

The semi-truck driver was not arrested or cited at the scene of the accident, the DPS told 3TV.

The incident remains under investigation.

As of Thursday afternoon, a GoFundMe for Cox and Watson’s loved ones had raised over $111,000 of its $150,000 goal.