{"id":70636,"date":"2026-10-31T13:45:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-31T18:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/?p=70636"},"modified":"2026-10-31T07:48:30","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T12:48:30","slug":"three-injured-in-wadena-highway-71-semi-pickup-crash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/three-injured-in-wadena-highway-71-semi-pickup-crash\/","title":{"rendered":"Three Injured in Wadena Highway 71 Semi-Pickup Crash"},"content":{"rendered":"

WADENA COUNTY, Minn.<\/strong> (trfnews.i234.me<\/a>) \u2014 Three people were injured Thursday morning when a semi-truck and pickup collided on Highway 71 near Wadena.<\/p>\n

The crash occurred October 29, 2026, around 9:33 a.m. in Wadena Township, south of County Road 104.<\/p>\n

According to the Minnesota State Patrol, all three people suffered injuries classified as non-life-threatening.<\/p>\n

Semi and Pickup Collide on Highway 71<\/h2>\n

The collision involved a 1996 International semi-truck and a 2020 Ford F-150 pickup.<\/p>\n

State Patrol investigators reported the semi was traveling northbound on Highway 71.<\/p>\n

The Ford F-150 was traveling southbound when the vehicles collided south of County Road 104.<\/p>\n

The roadway was dry when the crash occurred.<\/p>\n

Authorities have not released a final determination of what caused the collision.<\/p>\n

The available report also does not identify either driver as responsible for the crash.<\/p>\n

Three People Identified Following Wadena Crash<\/h2>\n

The Minnesota State Patrol identified the semi-truck driver as Louis Joseph Schaefer, 34, of Cold Spring, Minnesota<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Schaefer suffered non-life-threatening injuries but was not listed as transported to a hospital.<\/p>\n

The report indicates Schaefer was not wearing a seat belt.<\/p>\n

The Ford F-150 driver was identified as Joann Mary Norris, 57, of Long Prairie, Minnesota<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Norris suffered non-life-threatening injuries and was transported to CentraCare in St. Cloud for treatment.<\/p>\n

The pickup’s passenger was identified as Eric Matthew Denny, 37, of Mahnomen, Minnesota<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Denny also suffered non-life-threatening injuries and was transported to Astera Hospital.<\/p>\n

Both Norris and Denny were wearing seat belts when the collision occurred, according to the State Patrol.<\/p>\n

\"Three<\/a>
Three people were injured Thursday morning when a semi-truck and pickup collided on Highway 71 near Wadena.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Airbags Deploy in Pickup During Collision<\/h2>\n

The State Patrol reported that airbags deployed in the Ford F-150.<\/p>\n

No airbag deployment was listed for the International semi-truck.<\/p>\n

Investigators also reported that alcohol was not suspected as a factor for either driver or the passenger.<\/p>\n

The crash report does not provide additional details about how the vehicles came into contact.<\/p>\n

Multiple Emergency Agencies Respond<\/h2>\n

Several emergency agencies responded to the Highway 71 collision.<\/p>\n

Responding agencies included the Wadena County Sheriff’s Office, Wadena Police Department, and Wadena Fire Department.<\/p>\n

Astera Health, Bertha Ambulance, and Life Link also assisted with the emergency response.<\/p>\n

Emergency personnel provided assistance while authorities investigated the collision.<\/p>\n

Motorists can check Minnesota 511<\/a> for current highway conditions and traffic restrictions.<\/p>\n

Minnesota State Patrol Crash Information<\/h2>\n

The State Patrol identifies the collision under incident number 26901790<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The incident is assigned to the State Patrol’s Detroit Lakes district.<\/p>\n

The supplied report was last updated October 29, 2026, at 3:03 p.m.<\/p>\n

It does not identify any citations or establish whether charges will follow.<\/p>\n

Additional details may be available through the Minnesota State Patrol crash updates<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The collision was also covered by KFGO News<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I’m Adrian Cole reporting for TRF News<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 TRF News. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Three people were injured in an October 29, 2026, crash between a semi and pickup on Highway 71 near Wadena. State Patrol identifies all three injured.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":70637,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_wpscp_schedule_draft_date":"","_wpscp_schedule_republish_date":"","_wpscppro_advance_schedule":false,"_wpscppro_advance_schedule_date":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_bluesky_share_type":"","_mastodon_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"","timeOption":"","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":""},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[16],"tags":[30326,7661,2098],"trf_mt_town":[29464],"trf_mt_county":[29536],"trf_mt_topic":[29494],"trf_mt_series":[],"class_list":["post-70636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-accidents","tag-louis-joseph-schaefer","tag-traffic-crash","tag-wadena"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70636"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70636\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70638,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70636\/revisions\/70638"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70636"},{"taxonomy":"trf_mt_town","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/trf_mt_town?post=70636"},{"taxonomy":"trf_mt_county","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/trf_mt_county?post=70636"},{"taxonomy":"trf_mt_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/trf_mt_topic?post=70636"},{"taxonomy":"trf_mt_series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/trf_mt_series?post=70636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}