Car crash north of Duncan takes 1 life

DUNCAN -- A 22-year-old Columbus woman was returning to work Tuesday afternoon from getting lunch in Duncan when she lost control of her vehicle and rolled several times in a ditch on the northern edge of the community.

Maria Medrano was killed in the 1:24 p.m. one-vehicle crash from injuries suffered when she was ejected from the Mercury Cougar she was driving, according to information released by the Platte County Sheriff’s Department.

Medrano was transported by rescue personnel following the 1:24 p.m. crash to Columbus Community Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Sheriff’s Deputy Shane Prather said Medrano was alone in her vehicle, which struck a utility pole before coming to rest on its side. Seat belts were not in use, he said.

Prather, who investigated the accident along with Deputy Chris Johnson, said it appeared weather conditions were a factor in the one-vehicle accident on 160th Street.

It had been raining earlier in the day and there was a drizzling rain falling at the time of the accident. The paved road skirts the northern boundary of the community and has a speed limit of 50 miles per hour.

“It appeared she might have hydroplaned and lost control,’’ said Prather, noting there were no eyewitnesses to the accident. The accident was reported by a person who heard it and call authorities, the deputy said.

Medrano worked at CSS Farms Inc., which grows and stores potatoes for Frito-Lay potato chip company, near Duncan. She was the company’s lab quality control technician.

“She just ran to Duncan for lunch ... it’s a two-mile drive,’’ CSS Farm Manager Tony Blickenstaff said this morning. Medrano had worked for the company for more than a year.

“With all the hours we work around here during harvest time, we all get pretty close,’’ said Blickenstaff, who spent the hours after the accident consoling Medrano’s boyfriend. “It’s been pretty rough.”

Blickenstaff said the accident reminded everyone at the company of the fragility of life.

Funeral services are pending with Gass Haney Funeral Home in Columbus.