A Palo Alto resident was killed in a crash with a pickup truck that left three others with moderate to major injuries in Joshua Tree on Saturday, March 11, according to the California Highway Patrol (CHP).

Identified as 45-year-old Katherine Loarie, she was pronounced dead at the scene, a press release from the San Bernardino Sheriff's Department states.

The crash happened at around 12:20 p.m. on eastbound state Route 62, east of Sunview Road, according to a CHP press release. Loarie was driving a 2023 Nissan Rogue and stopped on the right shoulder before then turning left and crossing paths with a 2018 Ford F-250.

The Ford pickup truck, driven by a 68-year-old man from Muskego, Wisconsin, was heading east just before the crash. The front of his vehicle hit the driver's side of the Nissan, the CHP press release states. Loarie was pronounced dead at 12:39 p.m., according to the Sheriff's Department.

Loarie's passenger, a 47-year-old man from Switzerland, was taken to Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs with major injuries. The Ford driver and his passenger, a 67-year-old woman, were both taken to Hi-Desert Medical Center in Joshua Tree for treatment of moderate injuries.

It doesn't appear alcohol or drugs played a role in the crash, which remains under investigation, the CHP release stated.

Loarie graduated from Menlo School in 1996 and the University of California, Berkeley with a bachelor's degree in economics and mass communications in 2000, according to her LinkedIn profile.

She obtained a Master of Business Administration from Dartmouth University in 2009 and served as president of the Dartmouth Alumni Association of Silicon Valley board of directors for 12 years.

Her LinkedIn profile shows a bulk of her career was spent in the Bay Area, where she held positions in marketing, business operations and product management. She most recently worked a contract job with Meta as a technical program manager. She also served as treasurer and technology lead for WIRE for Women, a nonpartisan organization that aims to help women enter elected office in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, until this past August.