Pingree woman injured in car accident Sunday afternoon

UPDATE: Idaho State Police confirms 26-year-old Rachel Tankersley, of Pingree, was injured in a serious accident Sunday afternoon.

ISP said Tankersley failed to yield to a stop sign and the vehicles collided in the intersection.

Tankersley was wearing a seatbelt, and transported by air ambulance to Portneuf Medical Center in Pocatello. Her two juvenile passengers were traveling in car seats and were transported by ground ambulance to Portneuf Medical Center.

Vernal Kunz, and his two passengers, 26-year-old Brittiny Hathaway, of Pocatello, and a juvenile were transported by ground ambulance to Bingham Memorial Hospital in Blackfoot.

Both Vernal Kunz and the juvenile were wearing seatbelts. Brittiny Hathaway was not wearing a seatbelt.

Hathaway remains in Bingham Memorial where she is being treated for a broken arm and head injury. The child in the car with Kunz is okay. Kunz has also been released from the hospital.

ORIGINAL STORY:

The father of missing toddler DeOrr Kunz was involved in a serious car accident near Pingree Sunday afternoon.

In a news release, Idaho State Police confirms it is investigating a crash on State Highway 39 near milepost 40, north of Pingree.

Kunz’s sister Tanisha O’Neal Tompkins, tells Local News 8/KIDK Eyewitness News that he is currently in the hospital. She said his only injury is a rolled ankle. Kunz had another woman and child in his vehicle at the time of the accident. O’Neal Tompkins said the woman driving the other vehicle has been taken via air ambulance to a nearby hospital. There were also two young children in the vehicle with the injured woman.

According to O’Neal Tompkins, the other driver ran a stop sign and that’s when the two vehicles collided.

ISP said the the southbound lane of travel is currently blocked at this time.

This accident happened exactly one year after Kunz’s son disappeared from Timber Creek Campground near Leadore.