Vernon County Sheriff John Spears reports that Vernon County had it's second and third motor vehicle fatality of 2021 on April 27, at 7:24 a.m.
The Vernon County Sheriff's 911 Dispatch Center received a 911 call reporting a two-vehicle head-on crash on State Highway 56, near County K, in the town of Genoa. A 2007 Ford Escape was traveling west on 56 when a turkey struck the front, causing the driver to lose control. The vehicle skidded into the ditch and back across the centerline, striking a 2011 Dodge pickup head-on traveling east.
Both occupants in the Escape, Jody Duwe, 59, and Nevaeh Niemyjski, 10, both of Genoa, were extricated from the vehicle and pronounced deceased by the Vernon County Coroner's Office. The driver of the Dodge truck, Joshua Dummer, 21, West Salem, was able to get out, and was transported by Gundersen Tri-State Ambulance to Mayo Clinic Health Systems of LaCrosse with non-life-threatening injuries.
Assisting at the scene was the Genoa Fire and First Responders, Gundersen Tri-State Ambulance, Vernon County Coroner's Office, Vernon County Emergency Management, Vernon County Highway Department, and the Wisconsin State Patrol.