A two-vehicle accident claimed the life of a Denison resident in the morning hours on Tuesday, March 22. The accident occurred on Highway 59 about 1/3 of a mile north of Highway 141 East. At around 6:15 am a 2003 Suzuki Vitara driven by 28 year-old Ruben Ramirez of Omaha was traveling northbound on Highway 59 when the vehicle went off the road and onto the east gravel shoulder. The vehicle then came back onto the roadway where it then crossed the center line and into the path of an oncoming southbound 2003 Oldsmobile Alero which the Suzuki hit head on.
After contact the Ramirez’s vehicle then rolled onto its passenger-side, coming to a rest in the roadway, while the Oldsmobile, driven by 41 year-old Marilu Nava of Denison, came to a rest in the west ditch. Ramirez, Nava and three passengers in the Nava vehicle: 30 year-old Naomi Rachelle Zavala, 61 year-old Asuncion Guzman Ramos, and 46 year-old Michaela Sanchez, all of Denison, were taken to Crawford County Hospital. Ramos was then life flighted to the University of Nebraska Medical Center where she later died from her injuries.
Ramirez was not wearing a seatbelt while all four occupants of the Nava vehicle were wearing their seatbelts at the time of the crash. The Iowa State Patrol was assisted at the scene by members of the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office, Denison Fire Department, the Crawford County Ambulance Service, and Waderich’s Towing of Denison.
