U Of M Graduate, Age 22, Killed In Highway 169 Crash

HENNEPIN COUNTY, MN — A 22-year-old University of Minnesota graduate is dead after a semi crashed her Chevrolet Cruz on Highway 169 in New Hope Wednesday. A total of six cars were involved in the crash, and everyone but Nowthen, Minnesota resident Kathryn Taylor Burkey survived.

Traffic was flowing northbound on Highway 169 at Rockford Road when a semi in the left lane rear-ended the Chevy Cruz, according to the Minnesota State Patrol. The Cruz was pushed into a Ford Fusion, and the Fusion then rear-ended a Chrysler Town and Country.

The semi continued in the left lane, rear-ending a Toyota Camry. The Camry then rear-ended a Honda Odyssey. Occupants of the Ford, Chrysler, and Toyota, including a Burnsville resident, suffered non-life threatening injuries.

"That was the first morning that I did not say I love you or kiss her goodbye," Burkey's boyfriend Johnny Olson told KSTP. "I will never be able to do that again. I don't want anyone to feel the pain I feel right now."

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