A two-vehicle crash north of Lake Mille Lacs killed a driver pulling a fish house and injured her husband and their five children in the vehicle, according to relatives.
The collision occurred about 7:15 p.m. Friday on northbound Hwy. 169 near Aitkin, according to the State Patrol.
Maggie Spychalla, 34, was towing the fish house with her SUV when a pickup truck heading east on Tame Fish Lake Road collided with her vehicle, the patrol said. Spychalla, of Hazelton Township, was hospitalized and declared dead.
The intersection has a stop sign for Tame Fish Lake Road, with none for Hwy. 169 traffic.
Her six passengers survived their injuries, according to the patrol. An online fundraising effort begun by her family identified them as 39-year-old Patrick Spychalla and their children: Carson, 17; Oakley, 14; Septembur, 11; Harvey-Rose, 9; and Hendrix, 3. All SUV occupants had on their seat belts, the patrol said.
“Patrick and [the children] survived the accident and have had to return home without their mom, the best mom anyone could ever ask for,” read the online posting by Rachel Simons, Maggie Spychalla’s sister.
The pickup driver, Jimmie M. Dano, 18, of Hazelton Township, and a passenger in his vehicle Cole V. Smith, also 18, were taken to Cuyuna Regional Medical Center in Crosby for treatment of noncritical injuries. Neither were wearing seat belts, the patrol said.
