“They were just incredible people," Serena McCartney tells PEOPLE of her four relatives killed in a traffic accident on March 20
Credit: Serena McCartney
NEED TO KNOW
- The Minnesota State Patrol said a March 20 traffic incident between two vehicles on a highway in Minnesota killed five people
- The fatalities included four family members: Richard and Kathleen Johnson and their daughters Kelly Hargus and Lindsey Rossow
- Two other daughters of Richard and Kathleen survived the crash
A head-on collision between two vehicles in Minnesota claimed the lives of five people, including four family members, according to authorities and a relative of the victims.
According to the Minnesota State Patrol (MSP), the incident occurred on Friday, March 20, at approximately 4:42 p.m. local time on Highway 71 around 240th Street in Cottonwood County. In a report, the department said that a 2016 GMC Terrain SUV carrying one occupant collided with a 2019 Ford Transit Van with 13 occupants.
Four people — all of them passengers — in the Ford Transit van died: Richard Johnson, 73, Kathleen Johnson, 73, Kelly Hargus, 49, and Lindsey Rossow, 47.
Martin Hanson, 67, who drove the GMC Terrain SUV and was the only occupant in the vehicle, was also killed, the MSP added.
Serena McCartney, a relative of the four who were killed in the crash, told NBC affiliate KARE that Hargus and Rossow were her cousins and Richard and Kathleen's daughters.
In a statement to PEOPLE on Monday, March 23, McCartney says she can’t believe that four of her loved ones are gone.
Credit: Serena McCartney
“As a kid, spending time with my uncle Rick and Aunt Kathy and all of my cousins was something I looked forward to all year,” McCartney says. “I looked up to Kelly and Lindsey, they were so cool to me."
Nine other people from the Ford Transit Van, including the driver, were taken to hospitals with injuries ranging from critical to non-life-threatening. Among them were Hargus and Rossow’s sisters: twins Kassandra Ambrose and Kristin Hanson, both 44.
McCartney tells PEOPLE that Hansen suffered a broken arm and Ambrose underwent a 7.5-hour surgery and had been in a coma, but is now awake and alert.
“Kristen and Kassandra were so sweet and beautiful,” McCartney says. “I remember their home being filled with people and love every time you saw them, you were hugged tightly! When they started getting married, I remember all we did was dance and danced for hours. Someone might have ended up in the pool. That family is what 'home' means. You are always welcome and you were always loved.”
“I can't make sense of any of it, but my heart finds some sort of peace that the twins are together,” she adds.
McCartney also notes that the sisters’ brother, Eric Johnson, previously died in a car accident on Christmas Day, 2004.
According to a GoFundMe established for Ambrose, she and her 12 family members were celebrating her dad Richard's birthday when tragedy struck, Minnesota Public Radio reported.
Credit: Serena McCartney
According to the MSP report, no alcohol was suspected in the crash and road conditions were described as dry. The department’s report did not disclose the cause of the incident.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Along with the fundraiser set up for Ambrose, several GoFundMe pages have been established for those impacted by the tragedy, including the families of victims Hargus and Rossow, as well as survivors Hanson and Matthew Schultz, who drove the Ford Transit van and also survived.
“I don't know how to put a lifetime of memories in a single paragraph,” McCartney says of her four relatives. “They were just incredible people.”
Read the full article here
