5/23/2010

By CHRIS HUNTER

Salina Journal

A former Bethany volleyball player was among those killed in a rural Saline County wreck shortly before 3 p.m. Friday.

Leah Trask, 22, of San Diego, Calif., John Ray Blasenhauer, 22, of Marquette, and Vernon Tinkler, 75, of Assaria, were killed as a result of the wreck at the intersection of Lapsley and Simpson roads, two miles south and three miles east of Assaria.

Trask, a senior at Bethany, played volleyball at the school between 2007 and 2009.

Bethany President Edward Leonard III was not available for comment.

Lt. Brent Melander, of the Saline County Sheriff's Office, said deputies were still investigating the fatal crash.

Melander said Trask was a passenger in a 1992 Pontiac Bonneville driven by Blasenhauer traveling eastbound on Lapsley that either did not stop or failed to yield at a stop sign at Simpson and Lapsley and were hit by a northbound 1995 Nissan truck driven by Tinkler on Simpson. North- and southbound traffic does not have a stop sign at Simpson.

Melander said the roads in the area are sand and gravel with posted speed limits of 55 mph.

"It does not appear speed was a factor in the accident," Melander said.

Melander said Trask had been trapped and neither she nor Tinkler were breathing or had a pulse after first responders arrived.

Blasenhauer was taken by ambulance to Salina Regional Health Center in critical condition but was later transported by helicopter to Wichita's Wesley Medical Center, where he died as a result of traumatic head injuries around 11:30 p.m Friday.

Melander said deputies do not believe alcohol was a factor in the accident.

nReporter Chris Hunter can be reached at 822-1422 or by e-mail at chunter@salina.com.

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