What: Fatal Crash 

When: Monday, January 18, 2010, 9:31 a.m.

Where: US Highway 81, 9 miles south of Watertown in Hamlin County.     

Driver 1: Barbara P. Rolsma, 70, Badger, SD, fatal.

Passenger 1: Shirley A. Erstad, 75, Badger, SD, fatal.

Passenger 2: Freda A. Waldner, 68, Badger, SD, fatal.

Vehicle 1: 1996 Chevy Corsica

 

Driver 2: Jared W. Brouwer, 26, Castlewood, SD, no injury. 

Vehicle 2: 1994 Peterbilt Conventional 377

 

Driver 3: Lorie Ann Jacobsen, 37, Watertown, SD, no injury.

Vehicle 3: 2007 Ford Econoline

 

WATERTOWN, S.D. – A three-vehicle crash on U.S. Highway 81 on Monday morning killed three Badger women.

 

The victims, all in a 1996 Chevrolet Corsica, were identified as Barbara P. Rolsma, 70; Shirley A. Erstad, 75, and Freda A. Waldner, 68.

 

Lorie Jacobsen of Watertown had stopped on the edge of the highway with flashers on to warn oncoming traffic of a crash that had happened earlier. The Chevrolet Corsica driven by Rolsma and traveling northbound collided with the rear of Jacobsen’s vehicle. The collision caused the Rolsma vehicle to slide sideways and stop on the roadway. A 1994 Peterbilt truck driven by Jared Brouwer of Castlewood, S.D., also traveling northbound collided with Rolsma’s vehicle. Neither Brouwer nor Jacobsen were injured.

 

The crash remains under investigation by the South Dakota Highway Patrol. Assisting agencies included Hamlin County Sheriff's Office, Codington County Sheriff's Office, Castlewood Fire Department, Castlewood Ambulance, Lake Norden Ambulance, Watertown Fire and Rescue and South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks. 

 

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