Wisconsin community in mourning after deaths of three Girl Scouts, adult volunteer

A western Wisconsin community on Sunday was grieving the deaths of three Girl Scouts and an adult volunteer who were collecting trash along a rural highway when police say a pickup truck veered off the road and hit them before speeding away.

Authorities have not released the names of the girls or the woman who were struck by the truck on Saturday in Lake Hallie, including the name of a fourth girl who survived but was in critical condition at a hospital in Rochester, Minn. The girls were members of Troop 3055 and were fourth-grade students at Halmstad and Southview elementary schools in adjoining Chippewa Falls, which is about 90 miles east of Minneapolis.

"Our hearts are broken for the girls and families of the Girl Scouts of the Northwestern Great Lakes," CEO Sylvia Acevedo of Girl Scouts of the USA said in a statement Sunday. "The Girl Scout Movement everywhere stands with our sister Girl Scouts in Wisconsin to grieve and comfort one another in the wake of this terrible tragedy."

Lake Hallie police Sgt. Daniel Sokup said the pickup, a black Ford F-150, crossed a lane and veered into a roadside ditch, striking the victims. Other members of the troop were picking up trash from the opposite shoulder as part of a recurring service project.

The driver, a 21-year-old man from Chippewa Falls, sped off but later surrendered and will be charged with four counts of homicide through the negligent use of a vehicle, Sokup said. It was unclear Sunday if the man had an attorney who could speak for him.

Sokup said the crash happened before a hill and there were no blind spots.

"The area is not an unsafe area," he said.

Sokup said it was not immediately known if there were other factors that might have led the driver to leave the road. The crash happened along County Highway P near a bridge over State Highway 29.

Cecily Spallees, a personal care attendant at a group home near the crash site, told the Minneapolis Star Tribune that drivers regularly speed on that stretch of road, which quickly changes from a 55-mph to a 35-mph zone.

"I'm always telling one of my residents that he shouldn't walk this strip at night," Spallees told the newspaper. "It's not safe."

The Eau Claire Leader-Telegram reported that the group of about 16 girls had split into two smaller groups to pick up trash along the highway, part of a service project they conducted each fall and spring.

They were wearing brightly colored safety vests, the Leader-Telegram reported.

The Chippewa Falls school district announced that counseling would be available for students and parents at the two elementary schools from 1-3 p.m. Sunday, and again on Monday.

The Girl Scouts of the Northwestern Great Lakes, in a Facebook post, asked people to "please keep the Nokomis Service Area volunteers and families in your thoughts and prayers as they grapple with this senseless loss."

The local Girl Scouts organization will hold a candlelight vigil at Halmstad Elementary School in Chippewa Falls at 6 p.m. Sunday.

MPR News contributed to this report.