Another car accident near St. Cloud has cut short the life of another Monticello woman.
Megan Lenher, 19, of Monticello was killed when the car she was riding in struck a van on Minnesota Highway 23 at the Interstate 94 overpass.
Minnesota State Patrol investigators said Sunday they believe the driver of the car, 27-year-old Ashley Gieske, turned her 1999 Chrysler 300 into the path of an oncoming Ford Econoline van as Gieske turned to head eastbound in the westbound lanes of Highway 23, which is a four-lane highway as it heads over Interstate 94.
Gieske was injured in the crash, as were the father and daughter in the van – Joeseph Schramel, 43 and Elizabeth Schramel, 12, both of Belgrade.
Those injuries were not believed to be life-threatening, investigators said.
A Fox 9 report states Gieske and Lehner were headed to a funeral.
The accident happened less than two weeks after a young Monticello woman was killed in a single vehicle accident near Minnesota Highway 15, also near St. Cloud on Thursday, Nov. 13, just three days after the first winter storm of the year made travel treacherous for most of that week.
Road conditions were wet, the state report said, Saturday morning, but temperatures were above freezing and road conditions weren’t believed to be a factor in the crash.
A GoFundMe account has been set up to help the family with funeral expenses.
http://www.gofundme.com/dyz4t0
Twin Cities’ Fox 9 News filed this report on the accident: