Driver in Backus-area crash succumbs to injury

The driver in a Backus area crash succumbed to his injuries Saturday.

In an updated release from the Minnesota State Patrol, 86-year-old Leo Elyea passed away from his injuries at North Memorial Hospital.

Elyea’s passenger, 83-year-old Susan Bye-Elyea, was killed at the crash scene on Highway 371 Thursday morning.

The state patrol says Elyea was not wearing a seat belt.

The Elyeas were southbound on the highway when 56-year-old Stephen Ertl of St. Cloud crossed into the southbound lane in a Chevy pickup.

Ertl and his 26-year-old passenger were transported to St. Joseph’s for non-life-threatening injuries.

Alcohol is not believed to be a factor in the crash. Roads were described as snowy and icy at the time.


Larissa Donovan is the News Director for the stations of Paul Bunyan Broadcasting and has been, almost without interruption, since Election Day 2016. She covers all the beats in north-central Minnesota, such as local government, crime, education, environment and social issues. She studied communications at Bemidji State University. You can follow along with Larissa's live tweets of meetings and events on Twitter!


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