photo by Sarah Stultz

In this photo taken in the days following the collision, photos, flowers and other memorabilia in memory of 25-year-old Kelly Jo Abrego sat by the area of washed out County Road 34 where the incident occurred June 29.

Car wrecks caused 14 deaths

Highest number of fatalities in county in at least five years

Staff

Published Saturday, January 3, 2009

Freeborn County saw the highest number of traffic fatalities in at least five years during 2008 with 14 deaths from car wrecks on the roads and interstates that pass through the county.

The number is substantially higher than the fatalities dating back to 2005.

In 2007 there were two fatalities; in 2006 there were six; in 2004 there were eight; and in 2005 there were four, according to Freeborn County records.

The people who died in 2008 ranged in age from a 3-year-old girl to an 84-year-old man. The victims were from places like Freeborn and Mower counties and even outside of the state in Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska.

The wrecks occurred in dry, rainy or icy conditions.

The following is a recap of each of those 14 traffic deaths:

- Jan. 25: An 8-year-old child from Kansas City, Kan., died in a vehicle rollover wreck on Interstate 35, two miles north of the Iowa state line.

According to Minnesota State Patrol reports, the 2006 Toyota the girl was riding in was traveling northbound on I-35 near mile post 2 when the driver lost control of the vehicle. The vehicle reportedly rolled over, went through a median and across the south bound lane, and ended up on its top.

The driver of the vehicle was listed on the state patrol report as Vang C. Her, of Kansas City. He was one of six people in the vehicle.

- Feb. 14: James Elmore Nelson, 84, of rural Austin, died from injuries sustained in a T-bone collision at the intersection of Freeborn County roads 19 and 30, north of Myrtle near the Bohemian National Cemetery.

Nelson was a passenger in a gray Cadillac car driven by Dorothy Gilma Nelson. They lived in Oakland Township in Freeborn County. She was transported to a Rochester hospital by Mercy Air Life helicopter for treatment of injuries, the incident report said.

The report indicated the driver of the other vehicle, a Dodge pickup, was John Allen Marquard of rural Glenville. He lives south of Myrtle. His pickup reportedly was traveling south on County Road 30. Nelson’s sedan was westbound on County Road 19 and was struck on the passenger side by the pickup.

Marquard received minor injuries and was treated and released.

- April 7: Helen L. Moltz, 81, of Austin, died when her car was struck by a dump truck driven by Bryan M. Bartness, 47, of Albert Lea, at the interchange of Interstate 90 and State Highway 13 northwest of the city.

Minnesota State Patrol reports indicated Moltz, who was driving a 2004 Ford Freestar, stopped at a stop sign at the bottom of the ramp from westbound I-90, seeking to turn onto Highway 13. Bartness was driving a 1987 Ford dump truck and was traveling in the northbound right lane of four-lane Highway 13.

Moltz proceeded into the intersection and the two vehicles collided. The State Patrol report listed the crash type as a broadside.

Bartness, according to reports, received non-life threatening injuries.

Road conditions were listed as dry and hazardous material was not present.

- June 12: Dale Wangen, 52, of rural Albert Lea died after the car he was driving struck an embankment and submerged in water in an area of road that was washed out on Freeborn County Road 34 in Oakland Township.

The road, between Freeborn County Road 21 and Freeborn County Road 19, was washed out after heavy rains came into the area.

Wangen was found after authorities received a call that a second motorist had gone off the road in the washout. The caller stated that the driver of the vehicle was unhurt but unable to get to solid ground because of the rushing water.

Though that driver was brought safely to solid ground, upon rescue he informed enforcement officials that his vehicle was actually resting on top of another vehicle that was completely submerged within the washout area.

After a rapid-water recovery of the submerged vehicle, the Albert Lea Fire Department raised the second vehicle and found Wangen deceased inside.

After that incident, County Road 34 was closed to motorists.

- June 30: Kelly Jo Abrego, 25, of Myrtle, died in a Rochester hospital of injuries received after the pickup she was riding in allegedly went around a barricade on Freeborn County Road 34 and into the washout area that formed a few weeks earlier.

Charles Kenneth Dennison, 20, of Albert Lea was listed on the Freeborn County Sheriff’s Office report as the driver of the pickup that was traveling south and reportedly drove around “Road Closed” barricades.

His vehicle went into the washout area, landed on top of a steel culvert and crashed into the south side portion of the washout.

Other passengers were Nathan James Buchli, 26, Albert Lea; Kelly John Pechumer, 37, Alden; Broc Marc Dempewolf, 22, Albert Lea; and Langdon Brooks Bachtle, 26, Myrtle.

They were all taken to the hospital.

- July 3: Kelly John Pechumer, 37, of Alden, one of the other passengers in the pickup that went into the washed out part of Freeborn County Road 34 just a few days earlier, died as a result of injuries sustained from the crash. He had been in critical condition since the wreck. That brought the death toll on County Road 34 to three since heavy rains caused flooding June 11 and 12 that washed out the roadway.

- July 3: Jason Robran, 30, of Hartland, died when his motorcycle collided with a 1994 Ford pickup driven by Gary Lee Johnson, 54, of New Richland, on Freeborn County Road 35.

According to the Freeborn County Sheriff’s Office, the collision occurred at a curve on the road northeast of Hartland.

- Aug. 8: June M. Modlin, 54, of Iowa Falls, Iowa, died of injuries received in a head-on collision on Interstate 35 near the Minnesota-Iowa line.

According to Minnesota State Patrol reports, a 2007 Ford pickup was traveling northbound on I-35 when it crossed the median and collided head-on with a 2001 Ford pickup.

Andy J. Kubena, 35, of Maplewood, was the driver of the 2007 Ford, and reports state no alcohol was detected in his system.

Modlin was a passenger in the 2001 Ford, along with Teagun J. Sunde, 11, of Iowa and Tayla M. Sunde, 15, of Minnesota.

Thomas M. Merklin, 61, of Iowa Falls, Iowa, who was the driver of the 2001 Ford, did not sustain any apparent injuries.

- Aug. 12: Andy J. Kubena, 35, of Maplewood, died of injuries received in the Aug. 8 head-on collision on Interstate 35 involving his 2007 Ford pickup and a 2001 Ford pickup.

Reports stated his pickup crossed the median near the Minnesota-Iowa border and went into the southbound lanes, where he collided with the other pickup.

- Nov. 8: Oscar Altamirano-Davon, 37, of Minnesota, died and 10 others were injured after a vehicle rollover near the Interstate 90 and 35 interchange northeast of Albert Lea.

According to Minnesota State Patrol reports, the 2004 Ford Econoline van they were riding in lost control, went sideways into the median and rolled several times on Interstate 90.

The road at milepost 159, where the crash occurred, was icy.

No alcohol was detected.

Driver Alex Urbano, 25, of Norcross, Georgia, received minor injuries, the report stated.

Also injured were Virginia Pena-Flores, 38, of Minnesota; Mauro Jiminez, 34, of Iowa; Hugo Altanirano-Pavon, 20, of Minnesota; Roberto Gonzalez, 31, of Iowa; Simon R. Mora, 34, of Spencer, Iowa; Raul Lagunes, 23, of Iowa; Javier Hernandez, 41, of Iowa; Ernesto Morales, 38, of Iowa; and Dora Maria, 34, of Iowa, according to the report.

The eastbound lanes of I-90 were completely shut down to aid in the medical needs of the injured, to protect emergency personnel and to procure a landing zone for the helicopters.

- Nov. 11: Juanita Olsen, 63, of Lake Mills, Iowa, died at St. Marys Hospital after being injured in a collision on Interstate 35 at mile marker 8, the U.S. Highway 65 exit southeast of Albert Lea.

According to Minnesota State Patrol reports, Olsen was driving northbound on I-35 when she lost control of her 2004 Chevy Suburban and was broadsided by a 2005 Dodge truck.

The truck was driven by 50-year-old Roger Benedict of Indianola, Iowa. He was treated and released for his injuries.

The State Patrol report stated the road was icy at the time of the incident.

- Dec. 4: Keith W. Pearson, 80, of Cozad, Neb., died when the pickup he was riding in lost control, entered the ditch and struck a tree near the Geneva exit on Interstate 35.

According to Minnesota State Patrol reports, the driver of the truck, Patricia Scheuffele, 52, of Lincoln, Neb., was driving northbound on I-35 near milepost 35 when she spun on the icy road.

The truck struck a tree on the passenger side of the vehicle on which her father, Pearson, was sitting.

Scheuffele received non-life threatening injuries from the crash.

- Dec. 16: Faith Christine Kampa, 3, died after her mother, Shannon Kampa, accidentally backed over her with a car in Myrtle.

Freeborn County Sheriff’s Office reports stated there were three others in the car with the mother and three others outside of the car when the incident took place.

The girl was not in the car and was with the others delivering the Freeborn County Shopper weekly publication.

When the mother went to back up, she didn’t know the girl was behind the car. The child was runover by the passenger side rear back tire, reports stated.

- Dec. 17: Former Iowa legislator Barbara Finch, 56, from Ames, Iowa, died during a crash on Interstate 35.

Minnesota State Patrol reports indicated the wreck occurred after a 2004 Dodge pickup was traveling southbound on Interstate 35 when it went through the median near mile marker 11 and struck a 2005 Toyota van that was traveling northbound.

The van spun into a 2007 Freightliner semi that was also traveling northbound, when the semi went down into an embankment and ended up in a field, reports stated.

Finch was the driver of the van.

Her passenger Erin Finch, 25, received non-lifethreatening injuries.

The roads were icy at the time of the incident.

Officials closed both northbound lanes of I-35 from U.S. Highway 65 to Freeborn County Road 46 for about 45 minutes, after which the inside lane was opened to drivers.

In the pickup, driver Karl N. Grubbs, 47, of Rimrock, Ariz., received minor injuries and passenger Donna Grubbs, 63, also of Rimrock, Ariz., received non-lifethreatening injuries, according to the State Patrol.

The driver of the semi, Robert D. Brandt, 64, of Litchfield, received no apparent injury, the report stated.

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