Bismarck Tribune

By LAUREN DONOVAN

Investigators in the rollover deaths of two Regent teenagers say new information confirms that a set of so-called "mystery tracks" at the scene were not related to the crash.

Louis Jahner, 19, and Kjirsten Carlson, 16, died Oct. 23 after Jahner rolled the vehicle shortly after midnight on a gravel road near New Leipzig just north of the intersection of highways 49 and 21.

The two grew up on Regent farms. Jahner was driving Carlson and her vehicle home from a beer party they'd both attended 18 miles south of New Leipzig.

Investigators ruled that the rollover was the result of excessive speed and alcohol consumption. Neither teen was wearing a seatbelt.

However, Norm Evans, retired head of the North Dakota Highway Patrol and now a private investigator hired by the teens' families, has said a second set of tracks at the scene left him suspicious that another driver may have been involved in a chase scenario that caused Jahner to lose control.

The rollover vehicle left tracks in one ditch and then the other ditch before the crash. A second set of tracks parallels those tracks; Evans, along with the victim's father, Roger Jahner, think it's possible someone from the party was dogging and tagging the crash vehicle that night.

The Roger Jahner family has offered a $50,000 reward for any new information that leads to the arrest and conviction of someone who chased the teenagers.

Assistant Grant County State's Attorney Jim Vukelic said recent publicity about the case caused a rural Mott resident, Virgil Meier, to step forward.

Vukelic said Meier told the Highway Patrol last week that he saw the mystery tracks in the ditch when he was out doing field work in the area on Oct. 17, which would have been the Monday prior to the Sunday accident.

Investigators looked at the other set of tracks after the accident and concluded they were not related to the time of the crash because, unlike the rollover tracks, there were no connecting tracks on the gravel road from one ditch to the other.

Another puzzle in the investigation was the statement from a nearby farmer, who said someone driving in the same ditch struck and moved a large round hay bale off to the side and left tracks before the rollover.

Vukelic said a rural New Leipzig woman recently told investigators she was the one who veered into the west ditch to avoid a deer and hit a hay bale weeks before the accident. The woman, Cheri Kienzle, said she didn't cross over into the east ditch and that the mystery tracks weren't left by her.

Kienzle's information still left questions about the mysterious tracks, and Meier's subsequent statement confirmed investigators' initial belief that the so-called mystery tracks predated the accident, Vukelic said.

Vukelic said there is not one shred of evidence to conclude the other tracks had anything to do with the rollover.

"It's a well-traveled ditch," he said. "I would say the tracks are no longer a mystery, insofar as they impact the case."

Roger Jahner said he remains unconvinced by the Mott man's statement and is still holding out the reward offer.

He said the Highway Patrol believed whoever struck the hay bale left the tracks and now that the female driver stepped forward to say she hit the bale, but didn't leave the tracks or cross over to the other ditch, they've moved on to accept the Mott man's statement as evidence.

Evans said a county blade operator told him the other set of tracks were not in the ditch when he worked the road Oct. 13, while Meier said he saw them a few days later on Oct. 17.

Jahner said he thinks the odds of someone hotdogging in the ditch, leaving parallel tracks to his son's, within three days of the road work and so close to the accident are too high to be credible.

Evans said the dates are all close enough to raise questions in his mind about Meier's memory five months after the accident, since Meier doesn't have any records, such as a fertilizer purchase, to rely on and can't remember what he was driving at the time.

Evans said he still hopes the driver who made the other set of tracks will come forward.

"We've found people who saw them, but the one who made them still hasn't come forth," Evans said.

Jahner said Meier, the rural Mott man, told him he was "pretty sure" he saw the tracks on Oct. 17.

Jahner said the situation is too serious to accept "pretty sure. He's got to be absolutely sure. It's a guess if he didn't document what he saw that day."

Jahner said he doesn't gamble, but he'd bet his farm that his son's case is manslaughter.

He said he's disappointed with the official investigation and will continue his own.

(Reach reporter Lauren Donovan at 888-303-5511 or lauren@;westriv.com.)