MISSOULA — Authorities have released the names of two of the three people who died after a crash on Interstate 90 in the Frenchtown area on Tuesday, February 18, 2025.
Missoula County Sheriff/Coroner Jeremiah Petersen says 41-year-old Richard E. Graham II of Missoula, 46-year-old Jeffery A. Clausen of Great Falls, and a five-year-old boy from Missoula died.
According to the Montana Highway Patrol, Vehicle #1 was a semi truck towing double trailers was eastbound on I-90. Vehicle #2 was a pickup truck; and Vehicle #3 was an SUV.
Vehicles #2 and #3 were stopped on the shoulder of the eastbound lanes so that some of the occupants could help a person involved in a non-injury slide-off at that location.
As it approached, the semi truck began to slide on the icy road and collided with the two stopped vehicles and two adults standing on the shoulder.
Several people were injured and taken to a hospital in Missoula, including a 28-year old man from Missoula; a 42-year old man from Missoula; a 28-year old man from Arkansas; and a 45-year old man from Washington.
There is no word at this point on whether anyone has been or will be cited or charged.
We will update you if we get more information.
(FEBRUARY 18, 2025) The Montana Highway Patrol reports that two men and one juvenile died in Missoula County on Tuesday, February 18, 2025, after an SUV went off the highway.
The crash happened on I-90 about a mile northwest of Frenchtown in the eastbound lane, near mile marker 89.
According to Captain Shawn Silvan with the Montana Highway Patrol, an eastbound SUV lost control and slid off the highway at about 3 a.m.
MHP reports that after the crash, people in two vehicles stopped to offer assistance.
While outside of the vehicles rendering aid, two men were hit by a tractor-trailer that had lost control; the two men died.
In addition to hitting the two men, the tractor-trailer struck the parked vehicles, killing one juvenile who was inside and causing severe injuries to another.
No other details have been released at this point, including the names of the three victims.
We will update you when we get more information.