3 people from Chesterfield killed in east Kansas crash that claimed 8 lives

TOPEKA, Kan. (First Alert 4) - Three Chesterfield residents were killed in a head-on collision that claimed eight lives in total on Sunday afternoon in eastern Kansas.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reports the crash happened at 5:43 p.m. on Highway 169 in Franklin County, Kansas. A southbound 2016 GMC Yukon driven by Jaimon Gilstrap, 33, of Tulsa, was trying to pass another vehicle when it crashed into a northbound 2016 Subaru Legacy driven by Alexander Ernst of Ames, Iowa.

Ernst was killed in the crash as were three passengers, all from Chesterfield. They are Madalyn Elliott, 33, Norleen Elliott, 69, and John Elliott, who was 76-years-old.

Friends and relatives of the Elliott family declined to comment when contacted by FirstAlert4. Off-camera neighbors described the family as sweet, caring people who were involved in their community and at their local church congregation at Chesterfield Presbyterian.

Madalyn Elliott, the 33-year-old daughter of John and Norleen, had been a track star at Westminster Christian Academy in high school. She also competed in college at Missouri S&T. According to Madalyn’s LinkedIn profile, she had also gone on to graduate medical school from A.T. Still University and was working as an Internal Medicine Resident in Des Moines. Her father, John, had been an anesthesiologist in the area.

A spokesperson for Westminster Christian Academy said in a statement that many in the school’s community were heartbroken to hear about the loss of the family.

“Every death is grievous, but when the loss strikes someone who once walked our halls and was part of our school family, the pain is felt in a more personal and profound way,” they wrote. “Westminster Christian Academy joins many others in praying for the surviving family members and friends as they grieve. As the Apostle Paul exhorts us, “weep with those who weep” (Romans 12:15). We are mourning with them.”

Gilstrap, the driver of the Yukon, was also killed as were four passengers. They are 14-year-old Kyron Gilstrap, of Tulsa, Donald Laster, 14, of Tulsa, and Wayne Walls, 41, of Talala, Okla.

Braden Walls, 15, of Talala, Oklahoma, was also a passenger in the Yukon and sustained minor injuries. He was transported to Overland Park Regional Hospital for treatment, according to KHP.

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