A second person has died from a traffic crash last week in north-central Minnesota, authorities said.
Leo D. Elyea, 86, died Friday at North Memorial Health in Robbinsdale, two days after a pickup driver crossed over the centerline east of Backus and hit Elyea's SUV, the State Patrol said Monday.
Elyea's wife, 83-year-old Susan Ann Bye-Elyea, was a passenger in the SUV and died about 7:35 a.m. last Wednesday at the scene of the crash on Hwy. 371 in Powers Township, the patrol said. Neither had on seat belts, the patrol said in a search warrant affidavit filed with the court.
The pickup's driver, 56-year-old Stephen E. Ertl, of St. Cloud, suffered noncritical injuries, as did his passenger, 26-year-old Ryan M. Skaja, of Foley, Minn., according to the patrol.
Ertl was heading north on Hwy. 371, crossed into the southbound lane and hit Elyea's SUV, the patrol said.
The highway was slushy and snowy at the time, the patrol's court filing read. The filing also noted that Ertl was "driving too fast for conditions."
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