News: Thorp, Wis. Area Men Killed (24 Jul 1961)

Contact: Dolores Mohr Kenyon

Email: dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org

Surnames: Wiernasz, Lane, Wekkin, Linse

----Source: Clark County Press (Neillsville, Clark Co., WI.) July 27, 1961

Thorp, Wisconsin Area Men Killed (24 July 1961)

Victims of a fiery truck-convertible accident near Durand shortly before 10 p.m. Monday which took the lives of four; two Thorp area men will be buried in separate services today and Friday.

The men were trapped in the cab of the Wiernasz truck as it burned after the crash. 

Also killed in the mishap were Bobbie Joe Wekkin, 17, and Clarice Linse, 18, both of rural Durand. 

The accident took place at a bridge about four miles south of Durand on Highway 25, just south of the Buffalo-Pepin County line. The two girls were thrown from the shambles of their car.

Intense heat from the fire prevented officers from learning whether the two Thorp area men were killed in the crash, or died as a result of the fire that followed. 

The Wiernasz truck had been loaded that afternoon at the Mattes livestock auction market, south of Thorp, along with three others. Positive identification of the victims was delayed until the other two trucks reported in at their destination, although Buffalo County officers found on a license check that the truck was licensed to Wiernasz.

Sixty-five head of cattle were in the semi being drawn behind the truck-tractor. The trailer overturned and split open following the crash, releasing the cattle. Buffalo County officers said that none of the livestock was killed; but it took them most of the night to round them up.