One driver was killed, and the other airlifted with severe injuries in a Friday evening head-on collision in Guthrie County. According to the Iowa State Patrol, the accident occurred at approximately 9:51 p.m. on Highway 44, about two miles west of Guthrie Center. Authorities say 60-year-old Kelly Jo Polson of Audubon was traveling westbound on Highway 44 in a 2011 Ford Focus and crossed the centerline into the path of an eastbound 2023 Chevrolet Malibu, operated by 54-year-old Andrew Leonard Knudsen of Sumter, S.C. Polson was pronounced dead at the scene, while Knudsen was airlifted to Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines with life-threatening injuries. The Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office, Guthrie Center Fire Department, and Guthrie County Emergency Medical Services also assisted at the scene.
