Two women killed in icy wreck

CHARLO - Two young local women - Leona Acevedo, 22, of St. Ignatius, and Michael Marie (Dumont) Cottet, 20, of Charlo, were killed early Saturday morning in a one-vehicle wreck that sent the car they were in plunging into an ice-covered pond, where it landed upside down.

There were seven people in the small car, which had been westbound (toward highway 93) on Gunlock Road east of Ninepipes (Allentown) when it went out of control.

At press time Tuesday, the names and medical conditions of the other wreck victims had not been released. Those victims include a 25-year-old St. Ignatius man, a 19-year-old Polson woman, and three Ronan teens - an 18-year-old girl, a 17-year-old boy and a 14-year-old boy. They were all taken to Ronan's St. Luke Hospital.

The 3:30 a.m. crash is being investigated this week, to find out who was driving the car when it went out of control.

It's possible that charges could be filed in connection with the wreck.

Two of the victims reportedly managed to escape the upside down car, find holes in the ice so they could breathe, get to shore, and run to nearby houses where they awakened residents and had them call 9-1-1.

One of those victims said that the seven people in the car had been at a party.

Obituaries for Acevedo and Cottet appear on page 10.