Crash on Hwy 12 results in fatality

MENOMONIE — A Knapp man has lost his life in a one vehicle accident on US Highway 12.

Nathan J. Bauer, 26, orginally from Menomonie, was killed when the vehicle he was driving left the roadway, went into a ravine and oveturned in a creek.

The accident scene was located on US Highway 12 about two miles west of State Road 79 where a bridge passes over Annis Creek in the Town of Menomonie.

A news release from the Dunn County Sheriff’s Department stated that the Dunn County Communications Center received a call shortly after 3 p.m. Monday, March 23 of a vehicle that was found in the 3400 block of US Highway 12 that had left the roadway, driven down a steep ravine and into a creek.

Dunn County Sheriff’s Deputies and Menomonie Fire and Ambulance responded to the scene.

When law enformcement and emergency services arrived on the scene they found Bauer deceased in the vehicle.

It appeared that Bauer had been eastbound on US Highway 12 and failed to negotiate a curve, left the roadway and entered a steep ravine.  The vehicle sustained extensive damage and came to rest overturned in Annis Creek.

Authorities believe that the crash happened around 8:30 p.m. Sunday, March 22 based on information from residents in the area who heard something suspicious about that time, however, were unable locate or see a crash site at that time.

Bauer was the lone occupant of the vehicle.

The crash remains under investigation.