GREAT FALLS — A woman died and a man was injured in a head-on car crash east of Missoula in the Blackfoot Valley on Monday, February 24, 2025.
The crash happened at about 6:45 a.m. at mile marker 19 of US Highway 200, near the community of Potomac.
According to the Montana Highway Patrol, a 20-year old woman from Helena was eastbound in a Mercury Sable on Highway 200, lost control of her car on the icy road, and slid into oncoming traffic.
Her vehicle was hit by a Ford Focus heading in the opposite direction.
The MHP says the woman — who was not wearing a seatbelt — died in the crash.
Missoula County Sheriff Jeremiah Petersen identified her as Ecco I. Kriechbaum.
The 46-year-old man from Missoula who was driving the Ford was taken to a Missoula hospital for treatment of his injuries; he was wearing a seatbelt, according to the MHP.
The MHP says that impaired driving was not a factor in the crash, but speed likely was.
