A group of three motorcycles was rolling east on Garber Road in Clayton County Iowa when everything went wrong. It was about 9:17 p.m. on Saturday. A white-tailed deer came out of nowhere and stepped into their path.
The front bike hit the deer first. That was a red 2013 Harley-Davidson with Joshua Knockel 42 of Colesburg driving and Kelley Knockel 34 also of Colesburg on the back. Kelley did not make it. She was gone at the scene.
Joshua was hurt serious and got airlifted to La Crosse Wisconsin. Right behind them Mathew Witham 58 of Guttenberg on a black 2014 Harley-Davidson tried to dodge the crash. He lost control and got hurt bad too. They took him to a hospital nearby.
The last bike a black 2013 Harley-Davidson with Nicklas Rosenberger 33 of Dubuque and Selena Courtney-Puccio 39 of Dubuque got through without a scratch. They avoided the pileup completely.
Clayton County Sheriff Brent Ostrander said the investigation is still open. Plenty of local departments showed up to help that night. The road west of Kennedy Road saw a lot of activity after the call came in.
Kelley was from Colesburg just like the driver of her bike. They were out for a ride with the others when the deer appeared. Two people ended up in hospitals and one did not come home.
Riders know the risks of night driving in deer country. This crash shows how fast things can go wrong even when people try to react.
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