Names Released in Fall River County Double Fatality

What:    Single vehicle fatal crash
Where:  SD Highway 471, mile marker 25, 3 miles south of Edgemont, SD
When:   7:54 a.m., Wednesday, April 24, 2024

Driver 1: Michael S. Gembala, 55-year-old male from Edgemont, SD, fatal injuries
Vehicle 1: 2001 Ford F250
Seat Belt Use: No

Passenger 1: Roy Joseph Nielson, 64-year-old male from Willmar, MN, fatal injuries
Seat Belt Use: No

Fall River County, S.D.- Two men died Wednesday morning in a single-vehicle crash three miles south of Edgemont, SD.

Preliminary crash information indicates Michael S. Gembala, the driver of a 2001 Ford F250 was headed southbound on SD Hwy. 471 when the vehicle ran off the roadway then returned to the southbound lane, over-corrected and went off the roadway again, down an embankment, and rolled several times. Gembala and a passenger in the vehicle, Roy J. Nielson, were not wearing seatbelts and both sustained fatal injuries.

The South Dakota Highway Patrol is investigating the crash. All information released so far is only preliminary.

The Highway Patrol is an agency of the South Dakota Department of Public Safety.

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Note: Records of state-reportable crashes are now available at http://www.safesd.gov/  Records should be available about 10 days after the investigation is complete.