(KIWA Staff Photo)
Maurice, Iowa– An Orange City teen and a Westfield man have both died as a result of a crash near Maurice on Thursday, August 6, 2026.
The Iowa State Patrol reports that at about 5:50 a.m., 19-year-old Lazaro Martin Martin of Orange City was driving a 2018 Dodge westbound on Highway 10, two miles east of the intersection of Highways 10 and 75, north of Maurice. They tell us that 53-year-old Jeffrey Lahr of Westfield was eastbound on 10 in a 2006 Chevy. They say that 39-year-old Denis Mattheis of Paullina was westbound on 10 in a 2020 Kenworth.
The report says that Martin Martin attempted to pass an uninvolved vehicle and collided head-on with Lahr’s Chevy in the eastbound lanes. It says the rear end of Martin Martin’s Dodge struck the driver’s door of Mattheis’s truck traveling by. Martin Martin’s car became fully engulfed in flames.
Both Martin Martin and Lahr died as a result of the crash. Mattheis reported no injuries. Highway 10 was closed for over five hours.
The trooper says other troopers, the Sioux County Sheriff’s Office and Orange City emergency responders assisted with the response to the crash.
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Original story, posted 12:47 p.m. 8/6/2026:
Maurice, Iowa — A fatal crash west of Orange City kept Highway 10 closed for nearly five and a half hours this morning (Thursday).
The Sioux County Sheriff’s Office sent out a Nixle post that the highway was closed near Hickory Avenue at 5:54 a.m. Hickory Avenue is two miles east of the Million Dollar Corner at Highways 10 and 75. The sheriff’s office sent out a post that the road was open at 11:27 this morning.
Sioux County Sheriff Nate Huizenga says the Iowa State Patrol is investigating the fatal crash.
There was a dense fog advisory in effect in the area, but it’s not known if that was a contributing factor in the crash.
