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East Bethel family mourns 'wild child' killed in rollover

She was driving home alone after a party. Her mother said the 19-year-old had quit high school, but was going back to get a GED.

By BOB VON STERNBERG, Star Tribune

Last update: August 31, 2009 - 9:43 PM

When a squad car pulled up in front of the Nguyen home in East Bethel about 7:30 Sunday morning, Angela Nguyen figured her 19-year-old daughter had gotten herself in some kind of trouble.

"Rachel has always been a little wild child, but we've always loved her just the same," Angela Nguyen said. "We never expected this."

Only when the officers came to the door did she realize her daughter was dead, killed a couple of hours earlier when her car rolled over as she drove home from a party with friends.

"There's absolutely no way to believe this," Angela Nguyen said. "It's a parent's worst nightmare."

The Anoka County Sheriff's office has released few details about the crash, which was one of at least four weekend fatalities in Minnesota.

There were no witnesses to the crash, which occurred around 5 a.m. on Anoka County 22 (Viking Boulevard NE.) east of Rochester Street NE., and it does not appear other vehicles were involved, according to deputies.

Nguyen, who was wearing her seat belt, was the car's only occupant, they said.

"A friend found her car about 5 and got no response from her, but stayed with her until the police came," Angela Nguyen said.

The accident occurred about 3 miles from the family's home, she said. The final text message on Rachel Nguyen's cell phone was from a friend, about an hour before the accident: "Are you home yet?"

Angela Nguyen and her husband, Dan, had bought the car for their daughter about two months ago so she could commute to a new job working in the homemaking department at the Minnesota Visiting Nurses Association.

"She'd quit school but was going back to get her GED so she could get into some kind of medical profession," Angela Nguyen said.

"She was a beautiful, wonderful girl. We're going to miss her so very much."

Among the other fatalities, a 71-year-old man from rural Kasota, Minn., died Saturday afternoon in LeSueur County. Roland Schwichtenberg was traveling westbound on County Road 26 about 4 p.m. when his vehicle crossed the center line and crashed into a ditch, according to the sheriff's office.

Also Saturday afternoon, two people died and four others were critically injured in a three-car crash in Carver County, according to the State Patrol.

Sandra Babatz, 45, of Norwood Young America, died at the scene, and Juan Olvera, 35, of Sullivan, Texas, died on the way to Ridgeview Medical Center in Waconia following the 3:30 p.m. accident at the intersection of Hwy. 212 and County Road 51. Their car had been rear-ended by a semitrailer truck.

Bob von Sternberg • 612-673-7184

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