Tragic accident claims 4 lives

A 17-year-old Libby boy, a 59-year-old Columbia Falls woman and her two grandchildren were killed Saturday evening in a two-vehicle collision near Happy’s Inn.

Jacob Colclough, a senior at Libby High School, was returning home to Libby from Kalispell in a 2003 Hyundai Santa Fe when, according to Montana Highway Patrol Trooper Bryce Ford, he fell asleep at the wheel.

Colclough’s vehicle traveled completely over to the left lane and across the fog line. He apparently awoke when the vehicle struck the edge of the road because he jerked the steering wheel to get back into his lane. He overcorrected and the vehicle began to roll, Ford said.

Ramona Bauer, 59, of Columbia Falls, was approaching in the opposite direction in a 1996 Ford Aerostar Van with her 12-year-old granddaughter, Jade Ulrich, and 13-year-old grandson, Jeremy Sanders.

Sgt. Duane Bowers of the Montana Highway Patrol said Bauer probably perceived what was happening at the last moment because she moved toward the right shoulder about four feet. She didn’t use her brakes.

Colclough’s vehicle rolled into the air and violently struck Bauer’s minivan, Bowers said.

“On the first rollover,” he said, “the vehicle bounced up into the air and came down right on top of the minivan. It landed on the roof and then rolled off of the van.”

A man outside the Kicking Horse Saloon witnessed the accident.

Ford said Colclough was not wearing a seatbelt and was ejected from his vehicle. All three people in the van were wearing seatbelts.

Alcohol and speed were not factors in the accident, Ford said. All four were pronounced dead at the scene.

“It was one of the worst accidents that I can recall in that area,” said Lincoln County Sheriff’s Deputy Kirk Kraft, who responded to the scene as a volunteer for Fisher River Valley Fire and Rescue.

Libby High School organized help for students, teachers and staff who were coping with the tragedy, LHS Principal Rik Rewerts said. Law-enforcement officials explained the accident to students on Monday morning, and nurses, professional counselors, clergymen and the family center coordinator were also available to talk.

Rewerts fondly recalled Colclough. 

“He was a protector of all,” Rewerts said. “He would step up for any student he thought was being picked on. He was excited about his future in the military.”

Sanders, the 13-year-old boy in the minivan, had competed earlier that day in the Kootenai Classic Little Guy wrestling tournament in Libby.

Counselors were also available to help Columbia Falls Junior High students cope with the loss of Ulrich and Sanders. Ulrich was a current student and her cousin, Sanders, was a former student who had transferred to the Kalispell school district this year.