Car crash into river results in three fatalities

PLAINS - Tragedy struck Sanders County on Friday when 63 year-old Kathy Legard, 13 year-old Jake Legard and 4 year-old Peytan Yoder were killed when the vehicle they were traveling in ran off the road and into the Clark Fork River.

Divers retrieved the bodies Sunday morning from the vehicle that had traveled about 250 yards downstream from where the accident occurred late Friday afternoon. The car had been heading down the family’s driveway located on River Road West when it rolled down the embankment into the river.

A passing motorist saw the four-door sedan in the water and called 9-1-1 around 5 p.m.

Sanders County Search and Rescue were dispatched, arriving on the scene with two boats and multiple personnel. According to Sanders County Sheriff Tom Rummel, due to the late hour the search was temporarily called off and resumed Saturday morning.

Saturday morning Rummel and local pilot Dan Lilja flew over the area attempting to locate the vehicle from the air. The search and rescue boats were in the process of executing a grid search. Rummel said he determined additional assistance was required when efforts to locate the vehicle were unsuccessful.

Rummel said that due to the strong current and limited visibility, Flathead County Search and Rescue were called to aid in the operation. Rummel said that divers reported visibility of only 3 to 5 feet in water as deep as 15 feet.

Flathead County Search and Rescue arrived on the scene between 2 and 3 p.m. Saturday with additional divers and a helicopter. The helicopter spotted a large object in the river Sunday afternoon and divers were able to verify that it was the vehicle with the victims still inside.

Sheriff Rummel commended the work of both Sanders and Flathead counties Search and Rescue teams in their efforts to recover the vehicle and the victims of the accident.

“Flathead was a great help to us. I’m glad we were able to recover the vehicle in order to start to bring closure to the family,” said Rummel.

Kathy Legard was well known in the community. Legard was a lifelong resident of Sanders County and very active in 4-H. Montana State University extension agent and colleague John Halpop said Legard was a close friend who will be missed by the community.

“She was a leader with 4-H for 32 years. We all thought the world of Kathy. She was a part of this community her whole life. She was a very kind and compassionate person and a very dear friend. She was loved by the whole community and will be missed,” said Halpop.