WAGNER, SD — The 94-year-old man who died in a two-vehicle crash near Wagner on Monday, October 21, has been identified.

On Friday, authorities said Robert Carl Roberts died at Wagner State Hospital following the crash.

Roberts was a passenger in a 2021 Subaru Outback when the driver pulled over and began a U-turn, according to the South Dakota Department of Public Safety. A 2023 Peterbilt 389 tractor/trailer was also traveling westbound on SD Highway 46 just west of Wagner when the vehicles collided during the U-turn.

The driver of the Outback, 87-year-old Margaret Ella Roberts of Wagner, was taken to a hospital in Sioux Falls with serious, non-life-threatening injuries. The couple’s use of seat belts is being investigated.

The driver of the Peterbilt, a 65-year-old from Piedmont, SD, had no injuries. He was wearing a seat belt.

The crash occurred around 2:40 p.m. near mile marker 287, about a mile west of Wagner.

The South Dakota Highway Patrol is investigating the crash. All information disclosed so far is only preliminary.

The Highway Patrol is an agency of the South Dakota Department of Public Safety.

Our newsroom occasionally publishes stories under the “Mitchell Republic” banner. Often the byline “Mitchell Republic” is used when rewriting basic news summaries from official sources, such as a city press release about road closures, that require little or no reporting. Sometimes this signature is used when there are many authors in a news story or when the news is created by bringing together previously reported news from various sources. If external sources are used, it is stated in the story.