ELLIS COUNTY—Two people included a northwest Kansas man died in two separate accidents early Sunday in northwest Kansas.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported that just after 3a.m. in Ellis County, a 2014 Hyundai Sonata driven by Dalton Charles Hall, 20, Savoy, Illinois, was westbound on 8th Street in Hays at a high rate of speed.
The driver failed to obey the stop sign at the U.S. 183 Alternate. The car continued westbound over the embankment, went airborne, impacted the ground at the bottom of the embankment and flipped end-over-end coming to rest on its top.
A passenger Jacob Ray Rivera, 19, Selma, California, was pronounced dead at the scene and was transported to Brocks Funeral Home.
EMS transported Hall and two additional passengers Chelsy Mendoza, 20, and Victoria Angelica Borrego, 21, both of Selma, California to Hays Medical Center. Hall, Mendoza and Borrego, were not wearing seat belts, according to the KHP.
Just after 4a.m. Sunday in Sheridan County, a 1994 Ford Ranger driven by Vernon J. Rietcheck, 79, Hoxie, was westbound on U.S. 24 eight miles east of Hoxie. The driver attempted to make a left turn onto Kansas 188.
The pickup missed the roadway to the west, traveled off the concrete culvert and to rest facing south, high centered on the concrete culvert.
Rietcheck was pronounced dead at the scene and was transported to Brocks North Hill Chapel. He was not wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP.