Brown County crash kills Hiawatha man

By NewsPress Now

A Hiawatha, Kansas, man is dead following a car crash Sunday evening in Brown County.

Richard E. Childress, 76, was driving eastbound on U.S. 36 toward Goldfinch Road at about 8:30 p.m. about four miles east of Fairview, Kansas, when for an unknown reason the vehicle left the road, according to a Kansas Highway Patrol report. Childress’ vehicle continued eastbound into a ditch, struck a highway sign and then hit the ground at Goldfinch Road before vaulting and overturning multiple times.

Childress, who was not wearing a seat belt, was ejected from the vehicle, according to the report. He was pronounced dead by the Brown County Sheriff’s Office at 10:30 p.m.