Spicer, Minn. couple struck, killed while inspecting damange from 1st accident

SPICER, Minn. (KMSP) - A husband and wife struck and killed by a passing vehicle after getting out of their car to inspect a different accident on Highway 23 near Spicer, Minn.

Glenyce Gulbranson, 71, and Marvin Gulbranson, 70, of Spicer were driving westbound on North Shore Drive when their car collided with another vehicle at the intersection of North Shore Drive and Highway 23.

The couple and the other driver exited their respective vehicles and were talking in the median about the accident.

Lukas Koch, who lives two houses away from the scene of the crash, rushed out to help the shaken motorists.

“We were in the median,” Koch said. “I told them we need to get off the road so nothing happens.”
Within moments, Koch said another vehicle plowed into the scene. Both Glenyce and Marvin were struck and killed.

“I blacked out as soon as I saw the car coming. We just took off running. There was nothing we could do about it,” Koch said.

The couple died at the scene. The other driver in the first crash was not injured. The driver of the Chrysler suffered a non-life threatening injury.

The couple had been on their way home from a dinner at Hope Presbyterian Church not far from the scene. Church members rushed to the scene to help and to pray, but there was nothing that could be done to save the Gulbransons.

Minnesota State Patrol Lieutenant Tiffani Nielson recommends that motorists stay in their vehicles until after a crash until emergency personnel arrive or, if they have to get out, to move as far away from the flow of traffic as possible.

“You’re safer in your vehicle where at least you have a safety barrier [or] a buffer,” Nielson says.
The State Patrol is continuing to investigate the incident.