Patrolman, two others die in head-on crash on U.S. 2

The names of two people killed in a head-on collision on Tuesday evening (Aug. 26) on U.S. Highway 2 west of Hungry Horse have been released, as well as a woman who died Thursday afternoon (Aug. 28).

Killed in the accident were Evan F. Schneider, 29, a Montana Highway Patrol Trooper, and Roy Allen Moore, 42, of Hungry Horse. Ginger Wilborn, 30, of Hungry Horse, a passenger in the vehicle driven by Moore, died about 5 p.m. Thursday at Kalispell Regional Medical Center.

The crash happened around 7:10 p.m, Tuesday. Schneider had been westbound and observed a violation with an oncoming vehicle. He turned around and headed eastbound with his emergency lights on. He overtook two vehicles in the multi-lane section of roadway, and had entered the two-lane section when his vehicle collided with a westbound GMC half-ton pickup truck in the eastbound lane, according to a Highway Patrol press release. The crash occurred just east of the House of Mystery.

Schneider and Moore died at the scene. Moore and Wilborn were both ejected from the pickup.

One account is that the accident may have occurred when the truck pulled over for the patrol car. When the truck got into the shoulder of the road, however, the driver lost control, over corrected and struck the Highway Patrol car. That scenario was not confirmed by the Highway Patrol. Anyone with information on the crash is asked to call the Flathead County Sheriff's Office at 758-5610.

Schneider, who would have turned 30 in early September, joined the MHP in January 2004. He lived in Kalispell, and is survived by his wife Carrie. His brother James is also a trooper, stationed in the Libby district.

"Although the work we do takes us to every corner of the state, the Patrol is a small, close-knit organization," said MHP Col. Paul Grimstad. "We lost a colleague and a good man. Evan will be missed."

Responding to the scene were Bad Rock and Columbia Falls firefighters, and Three Rivers Ambulance as well as the ALERT helicopter.

Schneider becomes the sixth Highway Patrol trooper to die in the line of duty in the Patrol's 73-year history, but the second to die in less than a year. On Oct. 9, 2007, trooper David Graham died in a crash about two miles north of Kalispell, when a vehicle crossed a turn lane and hit him head-on.

* Nov. 2, 1946 - Patrolman Robert Steele was responding to a report of an armed robbery in Billings. The suspects were headed east on Highway 10. Steele and another trooper spotted the getaway car parked in a ravine off the roadway. The troopers approached the car on the passenger's side and Steele was shot in the neck.

* Aug. 1, 1954 - Officer James Anderson had pulled over a driver on the Bozeman Hill. A vehicle coming from the opposite direction struck Anderson.

* July 19, 1973 - South of Kalispell, officer Richard Hedstrom was writing a warning ticket when he was struck and killed by a pickup. Hedstrom had been on the road less than three weeks following recruit academy.

* April 8, 1978 - Officer Michael Ren was shot and killed near Eureka. Ren was trying to arrest a man on an outstanding warrant. Ren pulled the suspect over and approached the vehicle with his gun drawn. The suspect pulled a rifle and shot Ren.