UPDATE (2:50 p.m. on July 21, 2026): The South Dakota Department of Public Safety has identified the man who died in the single-vehicle accident south of Lake Andes on Friday afternoon. Robert Nicholas Fischer, Jr., 56, was driving his Freightliner semi truck when the brakes locked up. Fischer lost control and the truck went off the road, rolling when it entered the ditch.
LAKE ANDES, SD (Mitchell Now) — A 56-year-old man from Kennebec was killed when he crashed his semi truck Friday afternoon on US 18.
The accident occurred at mile marker 336, about three miles south of Lake Andes in Charles Mix County. Authorities say the man was not using his seat belt. A preliminary crash report conducted by the South Dakota Highway Patrol says the brakes locked up on the 2000 Freightliner Conventional FLD 120 while the man was driving south.
He tried to keep control, but the truck swerved and went into the ditch, where it rolled. The investigation is still ongoing and new information could come out that contradicts the preliminary findings.
