4 Die in Head-on Crash Near Northeast Kansas Town of Perry

Authorities say four people have died and two others were hurt in a head-on crash in northeast Kansas.

The Kansas Highway Patrol says the crash happened Sunday afternoon when 56-year-old Ronald Heston, of Oskaloosa, veered off the side of U.S. 24 in his pickup truck, overcorrected and crashed into an oncoming minivan. The crash near Perry killed Heston and three members of a Basehor family who were riding in the minivan.

The victims in the minivan were identified as 35-year-old Travis Askew, 27-year-old Ashley Askew and 6-month-old Haley Askew. Two others in the minivan — a 5-year-old girl and a 3-year-old girl — were taken to a Topeka hospital.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that Jay Pudenz, the father of Ashley, released a statement Monday, one day after a pickup truck crashed into the Basehor family's minivan on U.S. 24 near Perry. Thirty-five-year-old Travis Askew, 27-year-old Ashley Askew and 6-month-old Haley Askew were returning coming home from the Topeka Zoo when they were killed. Two other children — ages 5 and 3 — were hurt. The crash also killed the truck's driver, 56-year-old Ronald Heston, of Oskaloosa.

Pudenz says Travis and Ashley were hard-working and loving parents, adding they made every decision on whether or not it would benefit their children. He plans to raise the surviving children.