North Platte woman killed in I-80 crash west of Lincoln
Posted By: Channel 8 Eyewitness News
8@klkntv.com
Press Release:
At approximately 7:50 p.m. a single vehicle crash occurred near mile marker 392 on Interstate 80, just west of Lincoln.
An eastbound Chevrolet Trailblazer was attempting to pass a semi, when it crossed back from the left lane through the right lane and into the ditch, where it struck the guardrail and a pillar.
The vehicle then came to rest on its side.
The driver of the vehicle, Ladonna Schmidt, 57, of North Platte, was ejected from the vehicle. Schmidt was pronounced deceased on the scene.
There were two other occupants in the vehicle.
An adult passenger sustained what are expected to be non-life-threatening injuries and a small child, seated in a child-seat in the back seat, was unharmed.
Tim Heise was headed home from work when he came upon the crash.
"I saw a bunch of smoke under the bridge and I saw a lady run up to the car and she was screaming, ‘My daughter is in there, my daughter is in there,’" Heise said. "So I jumped in the car, the little girl was trapped underneath a bunch of junk that was in the car. So I started to pull everything around her out and pull her up from the seat and hand her out."
Investigators believe that Schmidt was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash.
NSP continues to investigate the cause of the crash.
