The State Patrol is saying that the two-vehicle crash over the weekend in west-central Minnesota that killed a member of the Gustavus Adolphus College women’s hockey team and injured three teammates was caused when the SUV she was riding in failed to obey a stop sign.
The crash occurred about 12:40 p.m. Sunday about 20 miles west of Willmar on Hwy. 40 at the intersection with Hwy. 29 in Grace Township, the State Patrol said. The SUV was heading east on Hwy. 40 along with two other vehicles of teammates when it collided with a southbound minivan.
All four women were taken by emergency responders to Montevideo Hospital. Gusties goaltender Jori Lynn Jones, 19, of Little Canada, did not survive her injuries, the patrol said.
The patrol filed search warrant affidavits Thursday asking for court permission to analyze computer data in both vehicles as part of its investigation into the collision.
The investigator’s filing revealed that “evidence at the scene and witness information indicated that [the SUV’s driver] failed to stop at the intersection … and collided” with the minivan, which “had just stopped at the four-way stop at the intersection [and] had just begun to continue south when it was struck.”
Gianna K. Gasparini, 19, of Lakeville, was identified by the patrol as the SUV’s driver. Her other passengers were Kayla M. Bluhm, 20, of Chisago City; and Lily K. Mortenson, 19, of Champlin.
A message was left Friday with Gasparini seeking her response to the patrol’s disclosure.
The patrol’s court filing supports what the minivan’s driver, Brandi K. Rasmussen, 28, of Benson, Minn., told the Star Tribune on Monday; that she came to a full stop at the intersection and the other vehicle did not.
Rasmussen said she stopped, saw no other vehicles in all directions and entered the familiar intersection, where the SUV “had to be going 60 miles per hour” at the moment of impact.
“All of a sudden, I’m in the air, rolling and rolling and rolling,” said Rasmussen, who was driving on a work assignment for Heartland Girls’ Ranch treatment center in Benson, where she is a counselor.
All four women in the SUV were freshmen on the Gustavus Adolphus hockey team that won the NCAA Division III championship in March 2023. Before joining Gustavus Adolphus, Jones played high school hockey for Roseville, Gasparini for Lakeville North, Mortenson for Benilde-St. Margaret and Bluhm for Chisago Lakes.
The hockey players were in one of three vehicles of teammates returning from a short off-season trip to Aberdeen in eastern South Dakota.