OTTER TAIL COUNTY, Minn. — A tragic crash has left a small Minnesota community reeling after 18-year-old Blake Unger, a recent graduate and homecoming king from New York Mills High School, was killed in a suspected DWI crash late Tuesday night.
The Otter Tail County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the single-vehicle crash occurred around 10:45 p.m. on May 27 near the intersection of 370th Street and 640th Avenue, approximately five miles north of Wadena. Authorities said the pickup truck, driven by 18-year-old Izak Schermerhorn, veered off the road and landed on its side in a ditch. Unger, a passenger in the vehicle, was ejected and pronounced dead at the scene.
Schermerhorn, also a recent graduate of New York Mills High School, was arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated and underage drinking and driving. The Otter Tail County Attorney’s Office is expected to file a felony charge of criminal vehicular homicide.
The devastating news comes just days after Unger celebrated his high school graduation. A standout student-athlete, Unger played football, baseball, and wrestled for New York Mills. He was widely respected among his peers and was honored as homecoming king during the fall semester of his senior year.
In a message to the community shared on social media Wednesday—the final day of classes—New York Mills Public School District Superintendent Adam Johnson expressed deep sorrow over the loss.
“It is with a great deal of sadness that I share this message with you … that a member of our school community has passed away in a motor vehicle accident,” Johnson wrote. “This is a devastating time for our entire community.”
Counseling services were made available at the school for students and staff coping with the sudden loss. Many students gathered in small groups on campus Wednesday morning to mourn, console one another, and remember their classmate and friend.
Those who knew Blake describe him as kind, enthusiastic, and full of promise. “He was the kind of person who brought energy to a room,” one classmate shared. “He cared about people. He worked hard. And he had so much ahead of him.”
As the community grieves, the circumstances of the crash have reignited conversations around teen drinking, impaired driving, and the risks young drivers face—particularly during times of celebration like graduation season.
The Otter Tail County Sheriff’s Office and local prosecutors are continuing to investigate the case. Formal charges against Schermerhorn are expected to be announced in the coming days.