Iowa man dies in one-car accident

Crawford County law enforcement responded to a call regarding an accident Friday night involving a vehicle striking a tree. Emergency responders arrived shortly after 11 p.m. Friday to the scene of the one-car accident on 520 Avenue, 200 feet west of 250th Street in rural Crawford County.

Matthew Allen Ledbetter, 23, of Mount Pleasant, Iowa, and three passengers were traveling east on 520 Avenue in Ledbetter's 2001 Chevrolet Camaro. According to the Crawford County Sheriff's Office, Ledbetter was driving at a high rate of speed and lost control of the vehicle when the road surface changed from pavement to gravel. After leaving the roadway, the vehicle struck a tree on the north side of the road.

According to the Crawford County Sheriff's Office, Ledbetter was pronounced dead at the scene after suffering apparent head trauma. One passenger, Kristopher Elsworth Funkhouser, 20, of Pittsburg, was transported by helicopter to St. John's Regional Medical Center for treatment of apparent head injuries. Trenton James Rathgeber, 21, and Amanda Nicole Hagerman, 21, of Pittsburg, also passengers of the vehicle, were transported to Via Christi by Crawford County EMS. Hagerman suffered facial lacerations.