News : Local family suffers tragic loss

UPDATED:

On Tuesday night, an area Union High School student passed away as the result of a car accident in Black Hawk County. The accident happened following a volleyball game in Jesup. The Union School District has canceled all extracurricular and co-curricular activities through Sunday, September 15.

The following statement was released by the school district/ John Howard, Superintendent said,

"Dear Union Families:

It is with tremendous sadness that I share this update with you. Last night, multiple Union students were involved in an auto accident returning from the volleyball game at Oelwein. One of the individuals, Gavin Rohrbach, Class of 2025, died at the scene of the accident. The other students have varying injuries.

Words can't readily express the devastation this news has had on our school community, especially the students and staff. Additional counseling staff, provided by Central Rivers AEA, are on school sites today to assist any students or staff who may need extra support in processing this terrible news.

We ask that you keep the impacted families, as well as our entire Knight community, in your thoughts during this extraordinarily difficult time."

The Black Hawk County Sheriff's Office responded to the two-vehicle crash late Tuesday night near the intersection of Dubuque Road and South Canfield Road.

The five passengers in the Nissan Pathfinder were all from Union High School. Rohrbach 17, Justice Luke, 17, of Buckingham, Keegan Brooks, 16, of Traer, Evan Hanus, 17 and Brayden Bohnsack, 18, of LaPorte City. The other four students were taken by ambulance for non-life threatening injuries or assessed and released at the scene.

Pamela Euans, 53 of Hazelton was airlifted to the University of Iowa Health Care for possible serious injury.

The Black Hawk Sheriff's Office said that the Pathfinder was traveling south on South Canfield Road at about 9:45 when it ran the stop sign at Dubuque Road and collided with the westbound Buick Rendevous in the intersection. Both vehicles came to rest in a field in the southwest corner of the intersection.

Responding to the accident were the Jesup Fire and Ambulance, Dunkerton Ambulance, and Waterloo Fire Ambulance.

If you would like to help the Rohrbach family, click here to be taken to a page set up to do so.