Woman killed in accident near Mizpah

I first started at the Bemidji (Minn.) Pioneer as an intern in the summer of 1996. That would begin six years as a news reporter, sports reporter and copy editor for a small, six-day-per-week daily newspaper in northern Minnesota. I wrote a large range of stories from multiple beats, to features to sports, my favorite being the coverage of the Red Lake Reservation High School basketball team named the Warriors. Here is a collection of my stories from my time at the Pioneer.

Sept. 8, 1999

By Devlyn Brooks

A Duluth woman was killed in a one-car rollover Saturday afternoon near Mizpah -- about five miles north of Northome -- according to the Koochiching County Sheriff's Department.

Leona Jean Engstrom, 38, was found dead at 3:11 p.m. Saturday by Koochiching County deputies in her overturned red Ford Aspire, which was completely submerged in a ditch.

The accident happened 3.6 miles west of Koochiching County Road 16 on Koochiching County Road 36.

Preliminary reports indicate that Engstrom was traveling east on County Road 36 and drove into a portion of the road that was covered with water from recent rains, according to a news release. That caused the vehicle to overturn.

The incident, however, is still under investigation.

The Koochiching County Sherriff's Department was assisted by first responders, the Northome Fire Department, Minnesota State Patrol, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and the Beltrami County Sheriff's Department.