2 dead, 2 injured after wrong-way crash on Highway 61 in Cottage Grove

UPDATE: The Minnesota State Patrol has identified the four people involved in a fatal wrong-way crash that happened around 8:15 a.m. Sunday in Cottage Grove.

Early State Patrol information indicates 95-year-old Julia Ann Bild of Cottage Grove drove her car south in the northbound lanes of Highway 61., which resulted in a head-on collision with a crossover SUV carrying three people.

Bild died at the scene, as did one passenger of the crossover SUV, 32-year-old Tanya Ann Mott of Lakeville.

The driver and other passenger of the crossover SUV, who are both residents of Prescott, Wis., were treated at Regions Hospital for injuries that were described as not life-threatening.

The State Patrol reported everyone involved was wearing a seatbelt and sober at the time of the crash.


INITIAL REPORT: Two people are dead and two others are in critical condition after a wrong-way crash on Highway 61 in Cottage Grove Sunday morning, according to a post on the Cottage Grove Police Department’s Facebook page.

Authorities say the crash happened at about 8:15 a.m. in the northbound lanes of Highway 61 between 80th Street and Jamaica Avenue.

Travelers are told to expect traffic delays in the area and are asked to use caution as the crash is investigated.

The Minnesota State Patrol said more information will be shared later in the day.