Woman dies in rollover

The Daily Inter Lake

A Bigfork-area woman died Friday night in a rollover accident on Montana 209 about one mile east of Bigfork.

Lyla Page, 29, was traveling west on Montana 209 at 8:10 p.m. when she swerved and lost control of her 2002 Ford Explorer, according to Flathead County sheriff's Sgt. and Deputy Coroner Lance Norman. The Explorer rolled several times before coming to a stop on the north side of the road.

Page, who was not wearing a seat belt, was ejected from the vehicle. She was pronounced dead at the scene, Norman said.

Investigators do not know why Page swerved, Montana Highway Patrol Trooper Dustin LeRette said. Excessive speed did not contribute to the crash, but alcohol possibly was a factor, he said.

It is standard procedure in fatal crashes to take blood samples from all the drivers involved. The blood sample will be sent to the state crime lab in Missoula.

Page was previously a Laurel resident but was living in the Bigfork area, LeRette said.

Page was the 19th traffic-related fatality in Flathead County this year and the second this week. Trenton Thornton, 24, of Kalispell died in a four-vehicle crash Thursday afternoon on Montana 82 near Somers.

Twenty-seven people were killed on Flathead County highways in 2007.