Couple dies in accident

Volume 156, No. 8 ■ 24 pages Plus Supplements ■ Wednesday, June 17, 2009 ■ $1.00 per copy
IN THIS ISSUE
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Couple dies
in accident
A family vacation turned to tragedy last weekend
when a minivan driven by a 15-year-old girl crashed
north of Maquoketa, killing her parents and injuring
herself and two siblings.
The accident occurred at 6:36 p.m. Sunday, June 14,
on U.S. 61 at the junction of 183rd Avenue approximately 10 miles north of Maquoketa.
The Iowa State Patrol said Henry J. O’Connell, 50,
died at the scene and Sarah A. O’Connell, 44, died at
University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City,
where she was flown by helicopter. All the victims were
from Madison, Wis.
Troopers said Sarah B. O’Connell, 15, was driving
south on 61 when the vehicle ran off the pavement onto
the gravel shoulder.
O’Connell steered to the left and overcorrected. The
vehicle went out of control, crossed both southbound
lanes and veered into the median, where it overturned
several times, ejecting all occupants except the driver,
troopers said.
The vehicle came to rest on its wheels facing east with
the rear wheels on the shoulder and the front wheels on
the left northbound lane.
Sarah B. O’Connell and Colman M. O’Connell, 13,
were transported by Jackson County Regional Health
Center ambulance to Mercy Medical Center in Dubuque.
A fifth family member, Maeve O’Connell, 10, was
transported by Jackson County Regional Health Center
ambulance to the Maquoketa hospital and was transferred to University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.
Troopers said only Sarah B. O’Connell was wearing
her seat belt.
The 2003 Honda Odyssey minivan was a total loss.
Troopers were assisted at the scene by the LaMotte
Volunteer Fire Department and Rescue Squad and
Jackson County sheriff’s deputies.
The accident marked Jackson County’s second and
third traffic fatalities of 2009.
Ryan Richard Garien, 26, of Maquoketa died in a
single-vehicle accident west of Otter Creek April 5.
The accident also marked Jackson County’s first accident involving more than one fatality in nearly seven
years. A Dubuque couple were killed when their vehicle
collided with a semi tractor-trailer at the junction of 61
and Hurstville Road north of Maquoketa on July 14,
2002.
MSP photos by Kelly Gerlach
Youth get 'Hooked on Fishing'
Poles poised, the first boatload of Briggs fourth graders set off down the
Mighty Mississippi River to see what they could catch. The fishing trip was part
of the Hooked on Fishing, Not on Drugs program launched three years ago by
Maquoketa Police Officer Jason Thompson. Shown in the boat are Officer Craig
Jackson, Delaney Clark, Beth Hillebrand, Matt Yarolem, Abby Rubel, Maria
Goddard, Leo Gibson, Matt Baker, Taylor Casel and Shelby Pettyjohn.
Maria Goddard practices water safety as she and fellow Briggs Elementary
School classmates put on their life jackets before their big fishing adventure on
the Mississippi. Most of the kids caught at least one fish that day and they all got
to see large fish in the DNR fishing nets.
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Andy Dingbaum prepares to embark on the boat for his class fishing trip at
Sabula. The fishing trip is part of a special class at Briggs Elementary School in
which specially selected students learn about fish, equipment, conservation and
water safety.
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OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER
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Jackson County
City of Maquoketa
City of Andrew
City of Baldwin
City of Monmouth
City of Delmar
Delwood School District
Maquoketa School District
MSP photo by Douglas Melvold
Personal belongings litter the scene as Jackson
County sheriff’s deputy Brandon Beck, left, and
an Iowa State Patrol trooper check a minivan in
which a Madison, Wis., couple were killed and
their three children were injured Sunday evening,
June 14, on U.S. 61 approximately 10 miles north
of Maquoketa.
Dennis
Weiss,
Department of Natural
Resources,
studies
Andy Dingbaum’s bait,
pole and lures before
the annual Hooked on
Fishing, Not on Drugs
fishing trip in Sabula.
Prior to the trip, Weiss
gave the fourth graders
a presentation about
turtles.