Accidents claim 2 lives in area
By RYAN CHRISTNER
Marking the deadliest week in the region this year, two fatality accidents occurred within about 35 hours of each during the weekend, the Kansas Highway Patrol reports.
The first took place early Friday morning in northwest Russell County, a few miles south of Natoma.
The victim, 31-year-old Justin Randall Loffredi of Victoria, was traveling north on County Road 657 and is believed to have been driving too fast to navigate a curve when his 2003 Dodge pickup left the road, flipped onto its side and struck a tree.
The highway patrol reported Loffredi had not been wearing a seat belt.
Estimated to have occurred at about 3 a.m., the crash was not discovered until after 6 a.m., by an area resident on the way to work, KHP Public Resource Officer Allan Lytton said.
The second accident occurred around 2 p.m. Saturday in Rooks County, about 3 miles west of Plainville on County Road Y and claimed the life of 15-year-old Trenton Taylor Hoft of Phillipsburg.
According to KHP, driver Joshua Clay Crain, 16, Phillipsburg, lost control of the 2004 Ford Ranger he was driving after it entered into a broadside skid.
The vehicle then rolled several times, ejecting Hoft, Crain and 16-year-old Jillie Lynn Ganoung from the pickup. None were wearing seatbelts, according to the KHP.
The three teens were taken to Rooks County Health Center in Plainville, where Hoft was later declared dead.
While the extent of their injuries was not reported, a RCHC nurse said Crain and Ganoung were no longer being treated at the hospital.