A 51-year-old Mulberry woman died early Sunday (Dec. 1) when a pickup crossed the center line and slammed head-on into her 2005 Hyundai Santa Fe, according to a fatal crash report from the Arkansas State Police.
Mattie Joyce Mirus was pronounced dead at the scene of the 7:08 a.m. wreck on U.S. 71 at Gregory Chapel Road in Crawford County north of Alma, State Police said.
"She had such a loving spirit about her, and everybody is going to miss her," said her father-in-law, Richard Mirus.
The woman's family said it will be difficult going on without her.
"She was a mom first and foremost," Mirus said. "She believed in taking care of her kids."
Christina C. Gee, 22, the driver of the 2006 Chevrolet pickup, was injured and flown to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences hospital in Little Rock, according to the State Police report.
The report states the pickup for "unknown reasons" traveled left of the center line and into the northbound lane of U.S. 71, striking the Hyuandai in the left front and sending it into a ditch.
The road conditions were clear, the report states.