A Scammon, Kan., woman who was a longtime employee at the Cherokee County (Kan.) Courthouse was killed in a two-vehicle accident at 7:40 a.m. Monday on an overpass on U.S. Highway 160 at Columbus, Kan., authorities said.
Icy roads also were being blamed for another fatality accident earlier in the day in Southeast Kansas.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported that a vehicle driven by Rhonda Tyree, 53, of Scammon, was westbound when it went out of control on the icy overpass and swerved into the eastbound lane, where it was struck by a tractor-trailer driven by Pierre Mercier, 60, of Quebec, Canada.
Tyree was taken to St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Joplin, where she died. According to county records, Tyree had worked at the courthouse since Feb. 1, 1989. She was an assistant in Cherokee County District Court, serving as Magistrate Judge Bill Lyerla’s secretary.
Neither the driver of the tractor-trailer nor his passenger were injured.
A 34-year-old Kansas City, Kan., man was killed in a crash about 5:50 a.m. on U.S. 169, about 10 miles south of Iola.
The patrol said Raul Sinckler was thrown from his pickup truck after he lost control on an icy bridge. The truck hit a guardrail, overturned and caught fire. Two passengers were injured.
