Crime & Safety

UPDATED: IGH Police Confirm Identities of Crash Victims, Investigation Into Cause Continues

The cause of the fatal crash involving a schoolbus and a passenger vehicle is still under investigation.

Update (Nov. 19, 3 p.m.) The Inver Grove Heights police department has released the names of everyone involved in Friday's fatal accident near the intersection of Highway 55 and Argenta Trail in Inver Grove Heights.

  • Bus driver: 54-year-old Timothy Nelson of Eagan (uninjured) 
  • Vehicle driver: 70-year-old Elaine Clausen of Inver Grove Heights (deceased)
  • Passenger: 11-year-old Laela Shawel of Inver Grove Heights (deceased)
  • Passenger: 4-year-old Gion Clausen-Young of Inver Grove Heights (deceased)

The cause of the crash is still under investigation. The Minnesota State Patrol is assisting in the police investigation. 

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(Nov. 18, 8:35 p.m.) The Star Tribune is reporting that Friday's crash between a school bus and a passenger vehicle took the lives of a 70-year-old woman and her two grandchildren.  

The article names Elaine M. Clausen, 11-year-old Laela Clausen and five-year-old Gion Clausen as the victims of the crash, which took place Friday, Nov. 16, near the intersection of Highway 55 and Argenta Trail in Inver Grove Heights. 

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The article cites Clausen's coworker as the source of the information. 

Inver Grove Heights police , that the driver of the schoolbus emerged from the scene uninjured.

However, police did say they will not release the names of the victims until the Minnesota Regional Medical Examiner confirms their identities.  

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Editor's note: This article will be updated as soon as more information becomes available. 


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