Woman dies in Montana 35 crash
Creston and Evergreen fire crews, Flathead County Sheriff’s officers and the Montana Highway Patrol responded to Montana 35 near Shaw’s Slough on Tuesday afternoon where a car drove off the highway and rolled down the hill. One person died in the crash.
A 51-year-old Bigfork woman was found dead Tuesday afternoon in a vehicle at the bottom of a steep embankment just off Montana 35 east of Kalispell.
Elizabeth “Betty” Hornbuckle was found inside her 1999 Subaru Legacy by a passing motorist who noticed tire marks in the westbound lane near the intersection of Fairmont Drive at about 3:15 p.m., according to the Montana Highway Patrol.
“He came through and saw the tracks,” Trooper Jerril Ren said. “He stopped saw the car, went over to it, saw the person, shook her and then called it in.”
Ren said she was pronounced dead at the scene. There are no witnesses to the crash, he said, adding that evidence points to the possibility that the crash might have occurred as early as noon.
It is believed that the vehicle went off the right side of the road, collided with a tree and landed on its roof.
Hornbuckle was wearing a seat belt and alcohol doesn’t appear to have been a factor, according to the Montana Highway Patrol.
About 16 emergency responders from the Creston Fire Department, Evergreen Fire and Rescue, Montana Highway Patrol and the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene.
The vehicle was on its top below the embankment and out of the view of passing traffic. Responders tied a rope to the grill of an ambulance and used ladders to safely move to and from the vehicle.
Hornbuckle’s body was placed on a backboard and carefully lifted to the road. Ren said the body has been sent to the Montana State Crime Laboratory for an autopsy.
Emergency responders still were working to remove the vehicle Tuesday night.
It was the third traffic fatality in Flathead County this year, according to the Montana Highway Patrol. There were six in 2010.