Valemount At about 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday November 9 a highway accident took the lives of three Valemount residents. The victims were Garry Buhler, Young Ja Lee and Young Che Lee. Young Ja Lee, formerly Young Ja Cheng, had been a long-time resident of Jasper before moving to BC.

The two-vehicle collision occurred on Highway 5 north of Valemount, just a few kilometres past Tete Jaune Cache. The two vehicles collided in the centre of the northbound lane of Highway 5, roughly 100 metres beyond where the yellow line turned from broken to solid for southbound traffic. Buhler was travelling northbound in his Ford Aerostar van. The Lees were travelling southbound in an Oldsmobile.

A truck driver was an eyewitness to the accident. He told police that the Oldsmobile had just passed him and was overtaking another vehicle ahead of him when it collided head-on with the van.

Police officer Kevin Podbisky said it was raining, overcast and dark, but feels environmental conditions were not the primary cause of the accident.

“We don’t believe the accident was a result of weather conditions,” he said. “We believe it was a result of poor driving judgement.”

He said alcohol was not a factor.

Podbisky confirmed that soon after police responded to the scene they called for the Jaws of Life. He said having extrication tools available would not have saved lives, but would have aided in removing the people from the crushed vehicles.

Garry Buhler was well known as the owner of Raven Office Services and published a popular free paper called Raven Rant. He had been a reporter for the Valley Sentinel. More recently, Buhler worked for CanWest Propane.

Young Che and Young Ja Lee  were in the process of building a 6,000-square-foot Korean restaurant and gift shop in the heart of Valemount. Parts of the foundation had been poured just days before the accident, but all work has been halted for the time being.

The couple was married more than two years ago, but Young Che moved to Canada just over two months ago. He had worked in construction, journalism and was a Presbyterian Minister. Young Ja lived in the Valemount and Jasper areas for about 15 years. Members of he extended family still call Jasper home. She was the former owner of the Tete Jaune Lodge and the Sarak Restaurant.