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The Montana Highway Patrol, along with assistance from the Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office, is investigating a fatal accident in the early morning hours of January 4 near Three Forks.
According to Montana Highway Patrol Public Information Officer Sgt. Jay Nelson, dispatch first received a call at 1:27 a.m. on January 4 about a vehicle going westbound in the eastbound lanes of Interstate 90 at mile marker 294 around Belgrade.
Ten minutes later, at 1:37 a.m., Nelson said a Gallatin County Sheriff’s Deputy notified the MHP of a two-vehicle crash at mile marker 278 near Three Forks.
Nelson reported the vehicle going in the correct direction became fully engulfed in flames after the head-on collision with the wrong-way driver. Gallatin County Deputy Coroner Sam Clark said on January 5 that the victim of the crash, 22-year-old Laysa Grewell of Belgrade, was pronounced deceased on the scene.
Nelson said the driver who was going in the wrong direction was extricated from his vehicle and transported to the hospital in Bozeman. Nelson said both speed and alcohol are suspected in the fatal crash, adding it is still under investigation.
As of press time, the name of the wrong-way driver had not been released.
Along with the MHP, the Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office, Three Forks Volunteer Fire Department, and Manhattan Police Department assisted at the scene.
GoFundMe
A GoFundMe Page has been set up for Grewell at https://www.gofundme.com/f/laysa-grewell. As of press time, the page had raised over $21,000.
The page was created by Grewell’s sister-in-law Shaylee Gaudenzi, who said in a post that Laysa was pregnant with her second child.
“Laysa was only 22 years old and had her whole life ahead of her. She is one tough cookie who loves her family to her core and would do anything for them. She was a fighter, a very strong woman who was constantly working hard and loving even harder. She truly will be missed,” Gaudenzi said in the post.
