7 News Belize

Car Crashes And Burns, Mother Perishes
posted (May 24, 2019)
A mother of two was killed in a terrible accident last night. 35 year old Immigration officer Jessica Heusner was heading to her Belmopan home after 10:00 when she rammed into a freightliner towhead. After that massive impact, her SUV exploded into flames with her trapped inside. Courtney Weatherburne has the story.

Courtney Weatherburne reporting
The scene near mile 11 on the George Price Highway was still active this morning around 8:00 when the freightliner company workers were clearing the road and towing one of two wrecked trucks.

Unhinged and mangled truck and vehicle parts and shattered glass were scattered on the side of the highway.But this scene only tells half of the story. The other side - which is the most chilling and devastating- played out inside what used to be an SUV.

Last night after 10:00, Jessica Heusner died inside this vehicle after it crashed into the freightliners And erupted into flames. Heusner's sister in law Debbie Wade was one of the relatives on the scene.

Debbie Wade, Sister in law
"When I got there, on the way I was hoping to see an ambulance, because if you see an ambulance there is still somebody is alive. But nothing. When we got there it was a lot of police officers and there was a big container on the right and then there was a big box truck on the left and then her vehicle was in the middle of the highway and it was just unrecognizable. It was just a ball of metal and they had already taken her out of the wreckage and she was already dead, so there was nothing that anybody could do."

According to the family, Heusner was driving to Belmopan. She had stayed back to work late in the city. She went to hang out with some friends after and then she was home bound.

Our information is that as Heusner was driving towards Belmopan and the two freightliners were heading towards Belize City. She apparently clipped the back wheel of this white truck and then rammed into the front of this truck that was right behind the white one. Today the fire department gave their report based on their assessment.

Kenneth Mortis, Sr. Supervisor, Natl' Fire Service
"She apparently made an attempt to overtake a trailer that she was trailing when she came in head on colission with an oncoming trailer in the opposite direction. The colission resulted in the vehicle explode into fire and she subsequently died from the blaze. Speed is a definate factor. Thats the key variable, how fast she was going tie in with how fast the trailer was going, but nonetheless the impact will definately have a devastated result whereby she would have been trapped, probably pinned down, cannot free herself - had the fire not taken there was a possibility that she would have lived, maybe, maybe not. It all depends. Was that the contributing factor prior to her death? We dont know and I wont speculate. I will definate leave that for the forensics. Its a tragedy and I'm still shaken up by it."

And the family as well as many of her Belmopan friends are beyond shaken up by the tragic loss.

Debbie Wade, Sister in law
"Jessica was always a ball of fun, she was really head strong but in a good way, she knew what she wanted, she was a single mom going back to school, doing everything she needed to do for herself and those kids you know just always wanting to have a good time and enjoy life and I am so glad that was the way she was and this has happened and so young you know."

"She is the life of the party in a very good way, sarcastic but in the most endearing way and just the best sister in law I could ever ask for, she and I are more than just. We're like sisters and she has her issues and I have my issues, we call each other, we move around together, everything. She is going to be greatly missed and I cant even start to thing about my nephew and my niece. We are going to deal with that situation and then moving on from this."

Heusner leaves behind 2 young children, one 12, the other 4. She had just returned to work on Monday from study leave. She was pursuing her bachelors at the University of Belize. Her mother lives in London and she will arrive in Belize on Sunday.

Now the family has experienced tremendous loss over the years. Heusner's brother drowned many years ago, then in 2005 Heusner's sister Elizabeth also died in an accident on the Western Highway. Their father also passed away recently due to natural causes.

In terms of the investigation, police say the drivers of both freightliners were issued with notices of intended prosecution.

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