Teens badly hurt in Hwy. 136 wreck

Two teenagers and an infant were injured Tuesday evening in a crash on Highway 136 four miles south of Ravenwood involving a van and a Mack truck.

According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, a 2003 Pontiac van driven by Devon K. Stephenson, 38, Maryville, and a 1981 Mack driven by Philip G. Seipel, 55, Ravenwood, were both northbound when the van struck the truck from the rear, careened off the east side of the pavement and ran into a ditch.

The patrol report stated that three passengers inside the van were hurt, including 1-year-old Chase B. Stephenson, Maryville, whose injuries were described as minor.

Of the two other passengers, Callie G. Files, Maryville, and Lindsey S. Wiederholt, Clyde, both 15, one was ejected, and both suffered serious injuries.

Files was taken by helicopter to Heartland Regional Medical Center in St. Joseph, and Wiederholt was transported by Nodaway County Ambulance to St. Francis Hospital & Health Services in Maryville. The infant boy was taken to St. Francis in a private vehicle.

Both Files and the 1-year-old were properly restrained, the patrol report stated. It is unknown if Wiederholt was wearing a seatbelt.

Neither Seipel, who was not wearing a seat belt, nor Stephenson, who was, were injured, according to the patrol.

Trooper Harold Vernon was assisted in working the accident by the Nodaway County Sheriff's Department and Ravenwood Fire & Rescue