Ross Man Killed in I-279 Head-On Crash

State police say a woman driving in the wrong lane led to a head-on collision on Interstate-279 that killed both her, and a Ross Township man Monday night.

The victims are Gary Helba II, 42, and Amy Tua, 45, of Harmony. State police say Tua, driving northbound, somehow crossed into the southbound lanes. The accident occurred in Ohio Township, just north of the Camp Horne Road exit about 7:45 p.m.

Both drivers died at the scene. State police say they can't explain yet why Tua was driving in the wrong lane. 

The Allegheny County medical examiner's office said toxicology results are pending. The crash remains under investigation.

Helba is originally from Weirton, W. Va. and moved to Pittsburgh for a job, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported. He had his wife, Whitney, had celebrated their one year anniversary on June 30.

A friend of the family, Kristen Shidemantle, said Helba loved Marvel comics and Star Wars. "We will miss his playful, kid-like manner, everyone will," Shidemantle told the Post Gazette.

Tua's husband, Kenneth, told the P-G he recognized his wife's vehicle when he was watching the 10 o'clock news Monday night. He said she'd gone to visit her mother in Bellevue, and he began to suspect something was wrong when calls to her cell phone went unanswered.

The Tuas, married for 16 years, did not have any children. Tua told the Post-Gazette his wife loved children and worked at the Allegheny County Children and Family Services for 17 years.

"At a troubling time like this, I wanted to give my honest to God perspective of my wife and hope it touches someone," Tua told the paper.