A Garrison woman was killed Tuesday morning when her SUV slid across the centerline into the path of an oncoming SUV on Highway 169 near Mille Lacs Lake. The collision happened around 8:50 a.m. on a curve about five miles south of Garrison, and emergency crews pronounced the driver dead at the scene. Authorities later identified the victim as 50-year-old Nicole Elizabeth Freeman of Garrison.
According to KROC, the Minnesota State Patrol's preliminary crash report says a southbound vehicle lost control on an icy curve and slid into the northbound lane, where the two SUVs collided in a T-bone-style impact. The patrol identified the other driver as 42-year-old Leslie James Gahbow of Isle, who was taken to a nearby hospital with injuries described as non-life-threatening. Troopers and local first responders stayed on scene as investigators began documenting the wreckage scattered along the roadside.
Crash details from the preliminary report
Investigators reported the vehicles as a southbound Subaru Impreza and a northbound Kia Sorento. After the impact, both vehicles left the roadway and came to rest in the east ditch. Airbags deployed in the Kia but not in the Subaru, and authorities told reporters alcohol was not suspected in the crash. Those specifics were reported by MN Crime.
Icy roads snarled traffic across the region
A coating of freezing rain Tuesday morning left roads slick across central Minnesota and the Twin Cities, triggering spinouts and jackknifed semis that clogged commutes and forced partial closures on major routes. From 5 to 11 a.m. the State Patrol reported responding to 128 property-damage crashes, 14 injury crashes and one fatal crash, and MnDOT cameras showed long slowdowns on I-94. The statewide counts and weather context were detailed by the Star Tribune.
Local response and road closure
Mille Lacs County sheriff's deputies, Mille Lacs Tribal Police, the Garrison Fire Department, Minnesota DNR conservation officers and Mille Lacs Health System all responded to the scene, local reporting says. Highway 169 at 460th Street was closed for several hours while crews cleared the wreckage and troopers finished their on-scene work. The Brainerd Dispatch reported the response and said the injured driver was taken to Essentia Health–St. Joseph's Medical Center in Brainerd.
Past crashes underline the danger
This stretch of Highway 169 near Mille Lacs Lake has seen deadly winter collisions before: a January 2025 head-on crash near Garrison killed three people after a southbound vehicle crossed into oncoming traffic. That earlier tragedy, along with the flurry of winter incidents this week, underlines how quickly freezing-rain events can turn otherwise routine drives hazardous, reporting by the Star Tribune shows.
The Minnesota State Patrol is continuing its investigation into the collision and will release a final report when that work is complete, authorities told local outlets. This story will be updated as troopers or county officials provide additional information.
