One person is dead and another critically injured after a two-vehicle crash Thursday night in southwest Lancaster County.
Lancaster County Sheriff’s (LSO) Chief Deputy Ben Houchin said the “nearly head-on” collision around 9:45 p.m. near Highway 33 and Southwest 42nd Street, east of Crete, sent both cars into opposite ditches.
Investigators believe 27-year-old Hermelinda Reynoso of Milford was driving westbound under the influence when she cross the center line, striking the vehicle of 24-year-old Alyssa Jeffrey of Friend, who was traveling eastbound.
Highway 33 was closed for approximately 6 hours while investigators with LSO’s Crash Reconstruction Team worked to process the scene. Crews from Crete Fire and Rescue, Southwest Fire and Rescue, Lincoln Fire and Rescue, and StarCare also responded to the scene.
Reynoso was pronounced dead at the scene. Jeffrey was air-lifted to a local hospital in critical but stable condition. Reynoso was not wearing a seatbelt, Jeffrey was.
“There was not a lot of evidence at the scene that [Reynoso] even hit the brakes,” Houchin told reporters. “The speed limit out there is 65 miles per hour. If they were both traveling the speed limit, that’s a collision of about 120-125 miles per hour. It was a very violent crash.”
This is the second fatal crash in rural Lancaster County this week. On Wednesday, 63-year-old couple from Firth, Patrick and Penny Holley, were killed in a crash near Highway 77 and Firth Road.
Houchin said the same deputies rushed to the scene of both crashes.
“The sad thing is, after you do this job for a few years, you get to investigate a lot of crashes like this,” he said. “The big difference between us and the city: our speeds in the County are usually a lot faster… We just want to make sure people don’t drive distracted, and please don’t drink and drive, and wear your seatbelts.”