Child dies, four people hurt in U.S. 93 crash

A 6-year-old Canadian girl died Sunday in a head-on collision near Olney that injured four other people, including the girl’s mother and two brothers, and left U.S. 93 closed for more than three hours.

A Ford Expedition driven by a 30-year-old woman from Cochrane, Alberta, was headed north on U.S. 93 when it lost control, skidded into the southbound lane and collided head-on with a Dodge pickup pulling a 27-foot fifth-wheel trailer, according to the Montana Highway Patrol.

The collision occurred at about 3:10 p.m. 

The Expedition was pulling a small pop-up camper. After the collision, the vehicle came to rest on its roof in the northbound lane. The woman driving the vehicle and her two sons, ages 4 and 8, were injured and taken to North Valley Hospital for treatment. 

Krissie Lynn Shirlaw, the woman’s 6-year-old daughter, was properly restrained inside the vehicle but died from blunt force trauma and was pronounced dead at the scene, Flathead County Sheriff Chuck Curry said.

A 60-year-old Olney man driving the Dodge pickup also was injured in the crash. He was taken to Kalispell Regional Medical Center for treatment.

The incident remains under investigation.

Montana Highway Patrol Trooper Andy Horton said a witness behind the Ford Expedition reported seeing the woman’s pop-up camper whipping back and forth before the wreck. 

The driver of the Dodge pickup reportedly observed what was happening, slowed down and moved to the shoulder on the west side of the highway where his vehicle was struck.

Earlier on Sunday, two Troy residents died in a motorcycle crash on Montana 56 near Troy.

The Montana Highway Patrol said that a man and a woman were northbound on a motorcycle at about 2:30 a.m. Sunday when the motorcycle failed to negotiate a turn. Both were thrown from the bike. Neither was wearing a helmet.

Lincoln County Undersheriff Brent Faulkner says 60-year-old Ross David Rouhoff and his passenger, 66-year-old Sharon June Hogue, died at the scene of the crash at about 2:30 a.m. Sunday.