Westfield, Iowa — Plymouth County authorities have released the identity of a person killed in a fiery crash near Westfield last Friday (December 18th).
According to the Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office, their communications center fielded a call about a ditch fire near Westfield. Within the next several minutes, they received multiple other calls reporting that there was a vehicle on fire in the ditch.
Plymouth County deputies, along with Akron Fire and Ambulance personnel were dispatched to the scene and once there, discovered that there was an individual inside the burning vehicle and that the person was deceased.
Plymouth County officials have now identified the victim as 43-year-old Jeremy A. Parker of Macy. Nebraska. Deputies say it appears that Parker was alone in the vehicle and that he had been northbound on Highway 12, about four-and-one-half miles southeast of Westfield. Parker apparently lost control of the vehicle and entered the east ditch, eventually hitting a tree before the vehicle stopped. It then became engulfed in flames along with the surrounding ditch area.
The incident remains under investigation by the Crash Investigative Team from the Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office and Le Mars Police Department, along with the Iowa State Patrol.
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Original story posted 2:56 pm 12/21/2020
Westfield, Iowa — A man has lost his life in an apparent accident and ensuing fire in Plymouth County late Friday night.
According to the Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office, their communications center received a 911 call regarding a fire in the ditch near 25133 Hwy 12, which is about four and a half miles southeast of Westfield. They tell us that about ten to fifteen minutes later, additional callers stated that there was a vehicle on fire also. Akron Fire and Ambulance was paged and Plymouth County Sheriff’s Deputies were sent as well.
Sheriff’s officials say that when the emergency responders got there, they determined that there was a person inside the vehicle. Plymouth County Medical Examiner Dr. Sheila Holcomb was contacted along with a crash investigative team from the sheriff’s office and the Le Mars Police Department.
According to the sheriff’s office, the person in the vehicle was deceased.
They tell us investigators believe that this crash was a one-vehicle incident, with the vehicle traveling north on Highway 12. The driver apparently lost control of the vehicle and entered the east ditch, eventually hitting a tree before the vehicle stopped. It then became engulfed in flames along with the surrounding ditch area.
Investigators believe that only one person was in the vehicle.
Due to the intense fire and the vehicle being fully engulfed, they tell us they could not identify the driver. In addition, the vehicle’s license information was not available.
At last report, investigators had not been able to identify the remains. The body has been transported to the Iowa State Medical Examiner’s Office in Ankeny, Iowa.
They tell us Rexwinkel Funeral Home and Stockton Towing, both of LeMars, and the Iowa State Patrol also assisted with the response to the incident.
