Stanton County hillcrest crash kills Christina Brandl, injures mother and daughters

Stanton County’s third fatal crash of 2026 killed Christina Brandl of Humphrey and sent a rural Leigh mother and her two daughters to the hospital Thursday, November 5. The nearly head-on collision at a hillcrest left both vehicles destroyed, but investigators have not determined why they met in each other’s path.⁠¹⁠⁵

Brandl was pronounced dead at the scene. Kelsey Hake, 35, and her daughters, ages 7 and 13, were taken by ambulance to Faith Health in Norfolk. Hake was later transferred to an Omaha hospital for further treatment; her daughters were treated at Faith Health. Their subsequent conditions and the severity of their injuries have not been established.⁠²⁠⁵

The Stanton County Sheriff’s Office was called at about 7:44 a.m. to 563rd Avenue, near 825th Road, approximately seven miles northwest of Leigh. That is the reported emergency-response time, not a separately established time of impact. The Norfolk Daily News rounded the response time to around 7:45 a.m.⁠¹⁠⁵

According to the sheriff’s account, Hake was driving an SUV south with her daughters, while Brandl was traveling north in a sedan. The vehicles collided nearly head-on at the crest of a hill on the county road. Multiple airbags deployed in each vehicle.⁠¹⁠²

Sheriff Mike Unger told the Norfolk Daily News that neither vehicle appeared to have braked before the crash. That led investigators to believe neither driver had seen the other vehicle before the collision. It is a preliminary reading of the evidence, not a completed reconstruction.⁠⁵

The distinction matters. The hillcrest identifies where the vehicles collided; it does not establish which vehicle, if either, crossed into the other’s path. Investigators have not established either vehicle’s speed or a final cause of the collision. The absence of apparent braking does not, on its own, assign responsibility.

Unger said Hake and both children were not wearing seatbelts. Whether Brandl was restrained was unknown. Those findings describe restraint use, but they do not explain why the vehicles collided or establish how seriously any of the survivors were hurt.⁠⁵

Local accounts agree on Brandl’s name and hometown but conflict on her age. KOLN’s November 5 report identifies her as 20; the Norfolk Daily News and a November 5 Norfolk News Radio report credited to the sheriff’s office identify her as 21. Her exact age remains unresolved.⁠¹⁠²⁠⁵

Leigh and Clarkson Fire and Rescue responded, along with Stanton County Emergency Management. Norfolk Fire and Rescue also assisted, meeting the responding ambulance service to provide advanced life-support care. The patients were transported from the scene by ambulance.⁠¹⁠²

A LifeNet medical helicopter was summoned but did not land at the crash scene or transport patients from it. The reports do not establish why it did not land. The request for a helicopter should not be read as a diagnosis or a measure of any individual patient’s injuries.⁠¹⁠⁵

Hake’s transfer from Norfolk to Omaha establishes that she received further hospital care, but the available account gives no diagnosis or injury classification. It also provides no later condition update for either daughter. Treatment and transport details are the extent of the established medical information.⁠²⁠⁵

Unger said 563rd Avenue was closed for about two hours during the emergency response and investigation. The Norfolk Daily News identified the collision as Stanton County’s third fatal crash of the year—a count of fatal collisions, not the county’s total number of people killed.⁠⁵

An autopsy on Brandl was scheduled in Omaha, according to the sheriff’s account. No examination date or findings have been established in the available reporting. The sheriff’s investigation remains open, with the cause of the collision and the survivors’ subsequent conditions still unresolved.⁠¹⁠²