ANDOVER, Minn. — Two people are dead following a crash that shut down a busy county road during morning rush hour in Anoka County Friday. The victims have been identified as 44-year-old Eleanor Lee Frey, and 57-year-old Dawn Marie Benkler.
Family members told KARE 11 that both women were wives and mothers.
"She just has a buoyant personality. So funny all the time, cracking jokes," said Frey's friend, Cynde Pike, "I don't think I've ever had a friend that's been as good as she has been in my whole entire life. We were that close."
The Anoka County Sheriff's Office says the crash happened around 7:30 a.m. on County Road 7 (7th Ave. NW) (CR 7) at 165 Ave. NW near the Andover city limits.
Two vehicles were involved, one of which caught fire. Good Samaritans who came upon the crash pulled the driver from the burning vehicle and began lifesaving efforts, but they did not survive. The person driving the second vehicle was also declared dead on the scene.
Investigators say the vehicles were headed in opposite directions near 165th Ave. NW when somehow they collided head-on. At this point it is unclear which driver crossed the center line.
There were no passengers in either vehicle.
People who live nearby told KARE 11 that this crash is one of many on this stretch of road. They blame a sharp curve in the road and the speed of traffic.
"We joke about, you know, hearing the screeching and just wait for the impact, because it happens so often," said Kathy Reitan, who has lived nearby for about 25 years and witnessed the aftermath of Friday's crash, "It's scary. Every time you go through that intersection, you're rolling a dice."
Both directions of County Road 7 remained closed for hours Friday as the crash was cleaned up and reconstructed.
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