The South Dakota Highway Patrol office in Mitchell is still awaiting a toxicology report nearly two months after a fatal crash south of the city.
“The state health lab is doing the testing,” said Sgt. Robert Mayer, of the Mitchell Highway Patrol squad office. “It normally doesn’t take this long.”
A Tripp woman’s vehicle crashed into another vehicle Sept. 25 on state Highway 37. Sara Claggett, 23, was traveling south when her vehicle drifted into oncoming traffic and collided with a northbound pickup driven by Donald Geidel, 82, of Dimock.
Claggett and Geidel died, but Claggett’s 2-year-old daughter, Lauryn, survived thanks to quick actions by three Mitchell Technical Institute students and others on the scene.
The toxicology results are being sought as part of the investigation into what may have caused Claggett to drift into oncoming traffic.
ADVERTISEMENT
Mayer said the Mitchell squad office plans to follow up with the lab to discover the reason for the delay.
