Baby killed in accident on STH 97

The Marathon County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a fatal single-vehicle crash that occurred on Wednesday, July 16 in the 22100 block of State Highway 97 in the Town of Frankfort. A 10-month-old boy was killed in the crash, and four others were transported to a local hospital with suspected minor injuries. At approximately 4:38 p.m., the Marathon County Emergency 911 Dispatch Center received a report of a sport utility vehicle that had left the roadway and crashed into a creek east of State Highway 97, between Blueberry Road and Blackberry Road. The vehicle had been traveling southbound when the driver lost control, and wet road conditions are believed to have contributed to the crash. Emergency responders arrived to find multiple injured occupants and the 10-month-old boy, who had been ejected from the vehicle and was pronounced deceased at the scene. A total of five individuals were in the vehicle at the time of the crash. The driver, a 34-year-old woman, and three passengers—a 1-year-old girl, a 4-year-old boy, and an 18-year-old woman—were all transported by ambulance to local hospitals with suspected minor injuries. State Highway 97 was closed for approximately four and a half hours while authorities investigated the scene and cleared the roadway. The Marathon County Sheriff’s Office was assisted by the Marathon County Medical Examiner’s Office, Stratford Fire and EMS, and the Marathon County Highway Department. The crash remains under investigation.