FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2015

Contact: Capt. Alan Welsh, Lt. Jeff DeVaney, Lt. Paul Gerken,
South Dakota Highway Patrol, 605-367-5700 or
Tony Mangan, Department of Public Safety, 605-773-6196
 

Names Released in Yankton County Fatal Crash

What: Two vehicle crash
Where: South Dakota Highway 50 and 448^th Ave., 10 miles east of Yankton
Time:  5:33 a.m., Monday, Nov. 30, 2015

Driver 1: Curtis Nelsen, 31, Yankton, S.D., Fatal Injuries

Vehicle: 1999 Acura 2.3 CL

Driver 2: Ashley Riibe, 30, Yankton, S.D., Fatal Injuries

Vehicle: 2012 Legacy Subaru

YANKTON, S.D. – Names have been released of the two people killed in a two-vehicle crash that occurred early Monday east of Yankton.

Curtis Nelsen, 31, and Ashley Riibe, 30, were the drivers of the two vehicles and the only people involved in the crash. Both are from Yankton.

Nelsen was driving a 1999 Acura 2.3 CL westbound on South Dakota Highway 50.  South Dakota Highway 50’s eastbound and westbound lanes are divided by a median. The Acura, which was driving on the wrong side of the road, collided head-on with an eastbound 2012 Subaru, driven by Riibe.

The collision caused the Acura to catch on fire. Nelsen died at the scene. Riibe died later at a Sioux Falls hospital.

After the initial crash, a 2000 Chevrolet S-10 pickup and a 2009 Chevrolet Impala, both driving through the crash scene, each struck one of the vehicles involved in the initial crash. The two people in the pickup and the one in the Impala were not injured.

The Highway Patrol continues to investigate. Other agencies at the scene were Yankton County Sheriff’s Office, Yankton Fire and Yankton EMS.

South Dakota’s Highway Patrol is part 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.