GV student dies in I-75 accident

Samantha Butcher

Oakland University officials confirmed Sunday that Grand Valley State University sophomore Rachel Ring, 19, died Saturday afternoon in a car accident on southbound I-75.

Police said a 60 something-year-old driver was at fault, but the cause of the accident was unclear. Alcohol is not believed to be a factor.

According to a report from Michigan state police, the accident involved four vehicles and 10 people.

Ring, who had recently transferred to GVSU, had previously attended Oakland. She and an Oakland student were riding in the back of a compact car when the accident occurred at about 2:58 p.m. Both of the passengers died; the car’s driver, a second Oakland University student, was removed from the vehicle with the jaws of life and sent to the hospital with injuries.

No one else was injured.

The girls were on their way to the John K. King Bookstore in Detroit when the multi-vehicle crash occurred.

“Any death among the Oakland University family diminishes us all, and the sudden death of two young, vibrant students is a particularly devastating blow,” wrote Oakland President Gary Russi in a campus-wide letter. “It is almost beyond our ability to comprehend such a tragedy.”

GVSU officials were unavailable for comment.

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