Melina Chavez Obituary, Death – The Kansas State Patrol reports that on the evening of Christmas Eve, there were two distinct rollover incidents that both occurred in the western part of the state. Both of these accidents resulted in the loss of life for the Kansas people. The initial collision occurred at approximately 6:15 p.m. on K-156 in Finney County, which can be found to the east of US-83. According to the Kansas Highway Patrol, Melina Chavez, age 23, was traveling west when her Ford Edge left the roadway on the right, went back across the road, and slid off the left side of the road.
The incident occurred as Melina was traveling west. After getting into a ditch, the sport utility vehicle rolled an uncountable amount of times before finally coming to a stop. Chavez, who had been taken from her hometown of Great Bend and taken to a hospital in Garden City, was eventually unable to survive after being treated there. At the time of the collision, the Kentucky Highway Patrol’s crash log indicates that she was not wearing her seat belt as required by law in the state of Kentucky. It is not known what caused her vehicle to deviate off the path the very first time it did so in the beginning.
The second fatal accident took place on Saturday evening at about 9 o’clock in Graham County, southwest of Hill City, close to the intersection of North Road and 255th Avenue. This incident was a single-vehicle collision. It was reported to the patrol that 40-year-old Ali Swanson was driving eastbound on North Road when she became unable to negotiate a curve in the road.
The driver of the Cadillac DeVille that was involved in the accident lost control of the vehicle, which resulted in the car rolling over onto its roof. At the scene, it was determined that Swanson, who was originally from Salina, had passed away. The report of the accident states that he was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the incident.