Superior woman hurt in elk collision

KELLOGG - A cow elk was bisected on Interstate 90 late Sunday after it collided with a vehicle, Idaho State Police reported.

KELLOGG - A cow elk was bisected on Interstate 90 late Sunday after it collided with a vehicle, Idaho State Police reported.

The incident occurred a little after 11 p.m., when Rosella K. Mellen, 64, of Superior, Mont. was traveling I-90 in a 1997 Dodge Stratus with two passengers - Annette Raedel, 41, of Superior and Kimberly Owen, 44, of Pinehurst.

According to ISP, there was a cow elk in the roadway near milepost 51, where it was "hit by the vehicle driven by Mellen causing it to roll over the hood of the vehicle and through the windshield."

The impact of the wreck tore the elk in two, ISP reported, sending a half into a second vehicle - a 1996 Dodge Stratus that was being driven by 16-year-old LeeAnn Stewart of Silverton.

Shoshone County Fire District II personnel were dispatched to the scene to assess the situation for any possible patients. Neither Owen nor Raedel was wearing seatbelts at the time of the crash, ISP released.

Mellen was the only person who sustained any injuries, ISP said, and was transported to Shoshone Medical Center by Community Ambulance Service. Soon after, Mellen was taken from SMC to Kootenai Medical Center.