By: Paul Walsh
Source: Star Tribune (TNS)
An 18-year-old SUV driver died and her mother was severely injured when their SUV collided with a dump truck Friday in northern Minnesota, officials said.
The wreck involving three vehicles occurred about 8:20 a.m. at the intersection of County Roads 1 and 66 near Crosslake, the Crow Wing County Sheriff’s Office said.
An online fundraising campaign started on behalf of the family identified the teenager as Keylah Kendrick, who attends Pine River-Backus High School, and her mother as Sara Callahan, of Crosslake, Minn.
Kendrick’s aunt Dawn Voss posted that the teenager “was a radiant light in this world, set to graduate high school in a few weeks. She had been accepted to [the University of] Arizona and was looking forward to fulfilling her dream of becoming a music teacher.”
Voss wrote that Callahan, her sister, “suffered severe injuries. She was airlifted to [a Duluth hospital], where doctors have her sedated to aid her recovery. ... My brother-in-law is left to hold the pieces together with four more children at home.”
Kendrick’s death prompted the Pine River-Backus School District to cancel its Shakespearean productions this weekend because Kendrick was in the cast.
The Pine and Lakes Echo Journal reported that Superintendent Jon Clark notified district families that “two of our students, along with a parent, were involved in a terrible accident.”
According to the Sheriff’s Office: The dump truck entered the intersection and collided with Kendrick’s SUV. A second SUV also was struck.
Emergency medical responders performed life-saving measures on Kendrick, but she died at the scene. Callahan was in the front seat and was critically injured. A back-seat passenger was taken to a nearby hospital with noncritical injuries.
The truck driver “departed the scene with their employer,” a Sheriff’s Office statement read. Sheriff’s Lt. D.J. Downie said Saturday that the driver is not being investigated for his departure from the scene.
No other injuries were disclosed. As of Sunday afternoon, law enforcement had yet to release the names of any of the vehicles’ occupants.
State records show the truck is registered to Schrupp Excavating of Pine River, Minn. A Schrupp family member confirmed that a Schrupp truck was involved in the crash.
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