12-05-2025
High school senior identified as victim of fatal Crosslake crash
The 18-year-old killed in a Friday morning crash in Crosslake has been identified as a Pine River-Backus High School senior.
The Crow Wing County Sheriff's Office says the crash happened at 8:19 a.m. when a dump truck that was northbound on County Road 1 collided with an SUV that was entering County Road 1 from County Road 66 in rural Crosslake.
The driver of the SUV was killed in the crash. She has been identified as Keylah Kendrick, 18. Kendrick's mother, Sara Callahan, was also in the SUV at the time of the crash and suffered "severe injuries."
She was airlifted to a Duluth hospital, and according to a GoFundMe has been created to support Callahan and her husband, is not yet conscious.
A third person in the SUV – another senior at Pine-Backus, sustained non-life-threatening injuries in the crash.
According to the GoFundMe, Kendrick was set to graduate from Pine River-Backus High School in a few weeks and had been accepted to Arizona University with hopes to become a music teacher.
As of Sunday, the fundraiser had reached around $9,000 of its $10,000 goal.
In the wake of the crash, Pine River-Backus High School announced it planned to cancel an upcoming theater production that Kendrick was set to play a role in, calling it a 'heartbreaking loss.'
"During these times we must be prepared to support each other as we deal with the many feelings we're about to experience," said superintendent Jon Clark.
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