Richland County Sheriff’s Authorities are continuing their investigation into an early Sunday morning traffic crash which claimed the lives of 3 young women and left a 4th injured at the scene in Richland County’s Richwood Township.
According to Richland County Sheriff Darrell Berglin a passing citizen reported finding the crash off the roadway on Sunday morning at 9:14am. The Sheriff said that deputies and Blue River Ambulance and Fire units were then sent to the crash scene on County Hwy X one half mile south of Echo Glen Road.
Berglin said that when responding units arrived on the scene they found Samantha Turnipseed, 19, of Richland Center severely injured. Turnispseed was then transported by Blue River ambulance to the Boscobel Hospital where she was later transferred to a hospital in La Crosse.
Sheriff’s authorities are reporting that the other 3 occupants of the vehicle were pronounced dead at the scene by Richland County Coroner Bill Shiremen. They were: Jessica N. Dull, 19, of Richland Center; Jessica L. Hartung, 20, of Elmwood, WI and Amanda M. Newman, 19, of Elk Mound, WI.
Sheriff Berglin said deputies are reporting that Dull was operating a 2000 Mitsubishi Eclipse southbound on County Hwy X when it became airborne, left the roadway on the right side and struck a group of trees overturning on its top.
An exact time of the accident is still pending further investigation however the sheriff said that there is evidence it occurred during the early morning hours of Sunday (June 27th). Berglin said that assisting his deputies at the scene were the Blue River fire and ambulance squads, the Boscobel Fire Department and an accident reconstruction crew from the Wisconsin State Patrol.
Authorities say they will not release whether alcohol was a factor in the crash until toxicology and alcohol testing reports have been completed.
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