On July 22nd, 2024, at approximately 2:17 p.m., the Stearns County Emergency Communications Center received multiple 911 calls reporting a two-vehicle crash with injuries at the intersection of County Road 9 and County Road 52/Two Rivers Road in Avon Township. That intersection is approximately ¾ of a mile north of St Anna.
When deputies arrived, they located the two vehicles with heavy damage in the ditch of County Road 9. Douglas Blonigen, 62, of Avon, had been driving his 2014 Chrysler Town and Country minivan southbound on County Road 9. As Blonigen entered the intersection, he saw a red car enter the intersection in front of him from the west. Blonigen did not have time to brake and struck the car on the driver’s side. He estimated his speed to be 55-60 mph. The red car was a 2005 Pontiac Grand Prix driven by Ellie Wittstruck, 18, from Sartell. Her passenger was Gracie Grams, 18, from Saint Cloud. The intersection was controlled by stop signs for eastbound and westbound traffic on County Road 52 / Two Rivers Road at County Road 9. Traffic for northbound and southbound County Road 9 at this intersection does not stop.
Wittstruck died at the scene from the injuries she sustained from the crash. Grams was airlifted by Life Link helicopter to the Saint Cloud Hospital with life threatening injuries. Blonigen sustained minor injuries and was not transported to the hospital.
Stearns Deputies were assisted on the scene by Avon Police Department, Avon Fire Department, Albany Fire Department, Mayo Ambulance, and Life Link Helicopter. The Minnesota State Patrol assisted with accident reconstruction.
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