Joel Ervin Berscheid was killed in a car crash at 4:15 p.m. on Thursday, May 29. The accident occurred on County Road 15, one mile south of the Meeker County line. Berscheid was traveling northbound on Hwy. 15 when his 1989 Chevrolet Celebrity crossed over the center line and collided with an on-coming 1990 Chevrolet Lumina. This car was driven by Nicole Marie Yungen-Donnay, age 30, of Watkins. The Meeker County Sheriff’s office and Minnesota State patrol responded to the accident. Watkins Ambulance, Gold Cross Ambulance, Kimball Fire and Rescue, and Life Link III helicopter were dispatched to the scene. Berscheid, age 20, was pronounced dead at the scene. He was traveling with one passenger, Jesse Lee Unterseher of St. Cloud. Unterseher received a cut on his head and several bruises. He was taken to the St. Cloud Hospital. Life Link III airlifted Yungen-Donnay to the St. Cloud Hospital; no further information has been released about her condition. Yungen-Donnay’s 7-year-old daughter was a passenger in the car; she broke her wrist and was transported to the St. Cloud Hospital by ambulance. According to the State Patrol report, neither Berscheid nor Unterseher were wearing their seatbelts at the time of the accident; both Yungen-Donnay and her daughter were. It has been determined that no alcohol was involved in the accident. The Minnesota State Patrol is investigating the crash.
