'I'm in shock about the whole thing': 3 Girl Scouts killed in roadside crash

A suspected hit-and-run driver was facing four homicide counts Sunday after his pickup slammed into Girl Scouts collecting trash along the side of a Wisconsin road, killing three children and an adult chaperone, police said.

Colten Treu, 21, was driving the black Ford F-150 that veered off the road and into the troop Saturday in Lake Hallie, about 95 miles east of Minneapolis, Lake Hallie Police Sgt. Daniel Sokup said. Treu fled the scene but turned himself in several hours later, Sokup said.

Two girls and the chaperone died at the scene, he said. Two injured girls were rushed to a hospital, where one died and one was hospitalized in critical condition.

Hours later, hundreds of community members gathered outside Halmstad Elementary School, holding candles and umbrellas and signing songs to honor the victims

The Girl Scouts were in fourth grade.“I’m in shock about the whole thing,” Joslyn Curtis, whose niece was one of the Girl Scouts not injured in the crash, told the Leader-Telegram in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. “My heart goes out to everyone who was hit and their families. But selfishly, I’m so grateful she (her niece) was not one.”

Sokup said the investigation was ongoing, but that the crash occurred in daylight in an area with no blind spots.

“The area is not an unsafe area,” he told the Minneapolis Star Tribune. He added that it was unclear whether Treu may have been distracted when the crash occurred.

Sokup said Treu will be charged with four counts of homicide through the negligent use of a vehicle. 

Cecily Spallees, an attendant at a nearby group home, said drivers regularly speed in the area, where the road changes from a 55 mph to 35 mph. There are no streetlights along the section of road, she told the Star Tribune.

“I’m always telling one of my residents that he shouldn’t walk this strip at night,” said Spallees. “It’s not safe.”

Contributing: The Associated Pres

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How Daylight Saving affects your sleep and overall health

Daylight Saving Time ends and clocks will "fall back" an hour this weekend, giving Americans the feeling of an extra hour in the morning, which could negatively affect their health. 

"Ever since the institution of Daylight Saving Time, there has been controversy regarding whether it accomplishes its goals or not, and if so — at what cost," Timothy Morgenthaler, Mayo Clinic's co-director of the Center for Sleep Medicine, said in an email.

Morgenthaler has reviewed about 100 medical papers related to how the time change could affect health.

Here's what you should know:

Sleep

Gaining or losing an hour will likely affect sleep patterns, often for about five to seven days, Morgenthaler said. The most notable changes are in those who regularly do not get enough sleep. People who are sleep-deprived might struggle with memory, learning, social interactions and overall cognitive performance.

"People have more changes in how sleepy they feel or how it affects the quality of their sleep when we 'spring forward' than when we 'fall back,'" Morgenthaler said. 

Heart attack or stroke

According to a study led by a University of Colorado fellow in 2014, when Americans lose one hour of sleep in the spring, the risk of heart attack increases 25 percent. When the clock gives back that hour of sleep the risk of heart attack decreases by 21 percent. (The limited study looked at hospital admission data in Michigan over a four-year period.)

A preliminary study presented at the 2016 American Academy of Neurology meeting suggested turning the clock ahead or behind an hour could increase risk of stroke. That's because disrupting a person's internal body clock might increase the risk of ischemic stroke, the most common type of stroke, according to researchers. The data showed risk of ischemic stroke was 8 percent higher two days after a Daylight Saving Time. 

These studies are two of several on these negative health effects, and they don't always paint the whole picture, Morgenthaler said. 

"Of several published between 2010 and 2014, three studies showed that DST increases the risk of acute myocardial infarctions (AMIs), however, two others demonstrated that the timing (but not the incidence) of strokes and AMIs may be influenced by DST," Morgenthaler points out. 

Crashes

Many have also studied the time change's impact on vehicle crashes and fatalities. The largest studies that correct for volume and driving activity as well as time of day "show no significant effect" on Daylight Saving Time changes, Morgenthaler said. Still, he cautions to remain aware while driving or walking near a road, especially early in the morning or late at night, after the change. 

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