Suttons Bay Woman Killed In M-22 Crash

An 81-year-old Suttons Bay woman was killed in a single-vehicle crash on M-22 Tuesday.

Leelanau County Sheriff's Office deputies responded to the accident on M-22 at East Murray Court at 2:33pm. At the crash site, deputies found a 2004 Dodge Durango that had left the roadway and struck a tree, with bystanders performing CPR on a female passenger from the vehicle. The driver, who suffered serious injuries in the crash, was still inside the car. Deputies and other rescue personnel then took over medical care for the victims, with both occupants taken to Munson Medical Center for further treatment.

At the hospital, Karol Ann Butler was pronounced dead from her injuries. The driver, an 82-year-old Suttons Bay man, remains at Munson in the intensive care unit.

 

According to the Sheriff's Office, the Durango was headed north on M-22 when - for unknown reasons - it swerved to the left and went off the road, becoming airborne before striking an embankment and then a tree. Both occupants of the vehicle were wearing seatbelts, and the airbags in the car deployed. "There is no indication of drugs or alcohol involved in this traffic crash," the Sheriff's Office said in a statement, "and there is the possibility that the driver suffered a medical issue just prior to the incident."

The car accident remains under investigation.