Hector, MN – On July 21, 2024, at approximately 3:34 PM, the Renville County Sheriff’s Office responded to a 911 call reporting a one-vehicle crash near the intersection of Renville County Road 22 and 850th Avenue, about five miles northeast of Hector, MN in Hector Township.
Emergency responders arrived to find a 1997 Ford F250 overturned at the bottom of a creek bank, though the vehicle was not submerged in water. The driver, Nikolaus E. Beglau, 40, of Hector, MN, and the passenger, Katie A. Dupre, 36, also of Hector, were trapped inside the vehicle. Both were extricated and given emergency medical care.
Beglau was airlifted to Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, MN, with unspecified injuries. Despite resuscitation efforts, Dupre was pronounced dead at the scene.
Initial investigations suggest the vehicle, traveling northbound on Renville County Road 22, crossed into the opposite lane, entered a ditch, launched off a creek embankment, and landed on its roof at the bottom of the creek bank.
Multiple agencies assisted at the scene, including the Hector and Buffalo Lake Fire Departments, Hector and Buffalo Lake Ambulance Services, Alina Health EMS, Mayo Clinic Helicopter, North Air Care, Hector and Buffalo Lake Police Departments, and the Minnesota State Patrol.
