4 killed in crash near Happy's Inn

Four people died in a traffic crash near Happy’s Inn Saturday evening.

Ramona Bauer, 59, of Columbia Falls, her 12-year-old granddaughter and 13-year-old grandson, and Jacob Colclough, 17, of Libby, were pronounced dead at the scene of the two-vehicle crash on U.S. 2 west of Kalispell.

Montana Highway Patrol Trooper Bryce Ford said Colclough was traveling west shortly after 6 p.m. in a Hyundai Santa Fe when he apparently dozed off. His vehicle drifted across the eastbound lane, crossed the fog line and struck the edge of the road, jolting him awake.

Ford said Colclough jerked the steering wheel and pulled back across to the westbound lane, where the vehicle turned sideways and started to roll. It rolled three-quarters of a turn into the eastbound lane, the trooper said, where it struck the eastbound Ford Aerostar that Bauer was driving.

Colclough was not wearing a seatbelt, Ford said, and was ejected from his vehicle. All three people in the van were belted in. Rescuers had to extract two of them.

The crash happened about 50 yards east of the turn-out for Happy’s Inn, by the Kicking Horse Saloon. Ford said a man standing on the porch of the Kicking Horse witnessed what happened.

Neither speed nor alcohol was a factor in the crash, Ford said.

Marion Fire Department, Fisher River QRU and Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office assisted the Montana Highway Patrol on the scene. Steve Schnackenberg is the Lincoln County coroner handling the death reports.