34-Year-Old Woman Dies in 2-Vehicle Crash Near Aitkin

A 34-year-old woman died in a two-vehicle crash near Aitkin on Friday.

The Minnesota State Patrol says Maggie Spychalla was pulling a fish house with her SUV on Highway 169 when a pickup truck struck her vehicle. The pickup was headed east on Tame Fish Lake Road, where according to Google Street View, there is a stop sign.

Spychalla was taken to a nearby Essentia Health facility where she died. Six passengers in the SUV all suffered non-life-threatening injuries, including:

• 39-year-old Patrick Spychalla
• 17-year-old Carson Faulkner-Spychalla
• 14-year-old Oakley Spychalla
• 11-year-old Septembur Spychalla
• 9-year-old HarviRose Spychalla
• 3-year-old Hendrix Spychalla

All of the Spychallas are from Hazelton Township, which is about 10 miles south of Aitkin. The State Patrol says they were all wearing their seat belts.

A fundraiser has been set up on GoFundMe to help the family and can be found here.

18-year-old Jimmie Dano was the driver of the pickup truck. He and a passenger in the pickup, 18-year-old Cole Desmith, who are also from Hazelton Township, were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries. The State Patrol says neither were wearing their seat belts.