GEARY COUNTY, KS — Two drivers were killed Wednesday in a wrong-way crash on Interstate 70 in Geary County after a pickup involved in a sheriff’s pursuit crossed back onto the highway and struck another vehicle head-on.
The Kansas Highway Patrol said the crash happened just east of the Washington Street exit to Junction City. The pickup’s driver, Seth Moreland, 41, of Caney, died from his injuries, along with the driver of the other vehicle, Diane Lester, 62, of Chapman.
Authorities said next of kin have been notified.
Pickup reentered westbound lanes the wrong way
According to the Kansas Highway Patrol crash report, the vehicle that sparked the deadly collision was a 2004 Ford pickup. Deputies with the Geary County Sheriff’s Office were pursuing it on I-70 when the truck exited the interstate and then got back on going the wrong direction in westbound lanes.
That set up the impact with a 2019 Cadillac that was traveling west in the same area. The crash occurred in the interchange area near Junction City, where the pickup and Cadillac collided head-on.
The highway patrol did not provide additional details in the information released about why the pursuit began or what happened in the moments before the pickup turned back onto the interstate.
Victims identified as Seth Moreland and Diane Lester
The pickup driver was identified as Seth Moreland, 41, of Caney. He was one of the two people who died in the crash. The driver of the Cadillac was Diane Lester, 62, of Chapman, Kansas.
Both drivers suffered fatal injuries, and officials said they died at the scene or soon after the collision. The crash report listed both as the only fatalities in the incident.
Moreland’s death adds a personal toll to a collision that unfolded during an active law-enforcement pursuit, turning a traffic event into a fatal emergency on one of Kansas’ busiest interstate corridors.
Crash site was just east of the Washington Street exit
The collision happened in Geary County just east of the Washington Street exit to Junction City, placing the wreck in a heavily traveled stretch of I-70. The area includes ramps and merging traffic, which can make wrong-way movements especially dangerous.
The Kansas Highway Patrol’s report located the crash in the interchange area, a detail that helps place the impact close to the exit where the pickup had left and then reentered the interstate. That sequence appears to have left the Ford facing oncoming traffic in the westbound lanes.
No other injuries were mentioned in the information released about the wreck.
Kansas Highway Patrol handled the crash investigation
The Kansas Highway Patrol is the agency that released the crash information and identified the two drivers killed in the collision. Its report noted the Geary County Sheriff’s Office was pursuing the Ford pickup before the wrong-way entry onto I-70.
That makes the patrol’s account the main public record of how the fatal crash unfolded. The sheriff’s office role was limited, in the information released, to being involved in the pursuit before the pickup crossed back into westbound lanes.
Officials have not publicly described any further developments in the case beyond the crash report and the notification of next of kin.
Wrong-way highway crashes can turn deadly in seconds
Wrong-way collisions on interstate highways are often among the most severe roadway crashes because they leave drivers little or no time to react. In this case, the vehicles met head-on in westbound I-70 after the Ford pickup reentered the roadway in the opposite direction.
The result was fatal for both people involved, underscoring how quickly a pursuit-related driving error can escalate into a deadly crash. The Kansas Highway Patrol’s description shows the impact happened in the same interchange area where the pickup had rejoined the highway.
For families in Caney and Chapman, the crash left two communities mourning after a Wednesday collision that ended with both drivers dead and a stretch of interstate shut into an investigation.
