N.D. woman killed in crash with semi

A Hurdsfield, N.D., woman was killed in a crash between a minivan and a semi-truck Friday afternoon in Wells County, according to the North Dakota Highway Patrol.

The patrol said Joshua Denaeyer, 26, Holyoke, Colo., was driving a 2001 Freightliner pulling an empty flatbed trailer northbound on N.D. Highway 3 Friday en route to Bottineau, N.D., from Valentine, Neb. He came over a hilltop at about two miles south of Hurdsfield about 4:32 p.m. and saw Kathy WhiteWoll, 52, Hurdsfield, ahead of him in a 2005 Pontiac Montana minivan. WhiteWoll had just made a slow U-turn to go northbound after retrieving her mail from a mailbox on the other side of the road. Denaeyer moved into the left-hand lane to go around the slower-moving Pontiac, but WhiteWoll turned left in front of him to go west on a gravel road that leads to her residence.

The semi hit the minivan, which came to rest ditch facing south, while the semi jack-knifed and came to rest blocking both lanes.

WhiteWoll was not wearing a seat belt and was pronounced dead at the scene. Denaeyer was wearing his seat belt.

The Pontiac was totaled in the crash and the Freightliner sustained moderate damage.

The crash remains under investigation.

Tags: news, accident, fatality