Two Kansans, one Iowa man dead after 3 separate Christmas Eve accidents in Kansas

Two Kansans and one Iowa man were killed in three separate vehicle accidents that happened in Kansas on Christmas Eve, Kansas Highway Patrol crash logs show.

The first accident happened around 3 p.m. in Franklin County on I-35 at mile marker 183, KHP logs show. Robert Rogers, 61, of Muscatine, Iowa, was southbound on I-35 in a 2007 Buick Lucerne when the car went off the left side of the road and struck a guard rail, the KHP report said.

Rogers died at the scene, the report added.

The second accident was reported three hours later around 6:15 p.m. in Finney County on K-156 about 3 miles east of U.S. 83. Melina Chavez, 23, of Great Bend, was westbound on K-156 in a 2008 Ford Edge when the SUV went right and left the road, the report said.

Chavez then “over corrected to the left, re-entered the roadway, and then left the roadway a second time to the left,” the report said.

The SUV entered a ditch, rolled several times and landed on its tires. Chavez was taken to St. Catherine Hospital in Garden City, where she later died from her injuries, the KHP report said.

The third accident happened around 9 p.m. in Graham County at the intersection of North Road and 255th Avenue in Millbrook, Kansas, KHP said.

Ali Swanson, 40, of Salina, was heading east on North Road in a 1996 Cadillac Deville when he entered a curve at 255th Avenue. The Deville left the roadway, rolled and came to a rest on its top, the KHP report said.

Swanson died at the scene, the report added.