FILLMORE COUNTY, Minn. — Search warrants filed in Fillmore County suggest investigators are doubting the story of a woman who claims she was driving an SUV that fatally struck an Amish buggy in southeastern Minnesota on Sept. 25, believing her identical twin sister was at the wheel instead.
The crash, which took place just before 8:30 a.m. that morning, took place on County Road 1 near the town of Racine. Investigators say an SUV came up from behind and struck a horse-drawn buggy carrying four siblings to school. Two of those children, 7-year-old Wilma Miller and her 11-year-old sister Irma Miller died on the scene. Their year-old brother and 13-year-old sister were hospitalized with serious injuries.
Court documents say a 35-year-old woman on the scene approached deputies and told them she was driving the vehicle that hit the buggy. The woman was given field sobriety tests and placed in the back of a squad car. It was at that time, the search warrant says, her identical twin sister walked to the open window and the two held a conversation during which they discussed that officers on the scene could not tell them apart.
The deputy filing for the search warrant alleges that after a press release was sent out announcing one sister as the driver in the fatal crash, Fillmore County investigators were contacted by the other sister's employer saying that she had just clocked out from work at 8 a.m. and was headed home, a time frame that would line up with the location of the crash. The employer also stated that the woman had sent communications through an employee messaging system saying she had used methamphetamine and was high at the time of the crash.
Investigators reviewed the messages and the times they were sent, and say they indicate the second twin was the actual driver.
Warrants also allege that surveillance video from the employer's parking lot and a deputies' squad car dash cam indicates the second sister swapped clothes with her twin on the crash scene to throw investigators off.
Deputies received a warrant to obtain a blood sample and fingerprints from the second twin the night of Sept. 26. The subsequent search warrants gave investigators permission to search the SUV involved in the crash for fingerprints, DNA and traces of drug residue and paraphernalia, among other things. Detectives also received permission to analyze electronic modules from the SUV that may provide information on speed, acceleration and brake and seat belt usage.
As of Thursday, Oct. 19, no charges have been filed in the case.
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