Crash victim ‘loved’ others

An Elliott woman was killed and a Corning man injured in a two-vehicle crash on U.S. Highway 34 in eastern Montgomery County Friday afternoon.

The Iowa State Patrol said Sara Rayne Venatta, 19, died at the scene. Her body was taken to the state coroner’s office in Ankeny for an autopsy.

Robert Drake, 62, was taken by LifeFlight air ambulance to the University of Nebraska Medical Center. There was no information available at press time on his condition.

The patrol’s crash report said Venatta was westbound on Highway 34 and Drake was eastbound. It said Venatta lost control, over-corrected, and then crossed into the eastbound lane in front of Drake. The front end of his 1991 Ford F-150 pickup struck the right side of Venatta’s 1998 Dodge Grand Caravan. The van was found on its side in the south ditch and the pickup stopped partially in the eastbound lane and on the shoulder.

The report said Venatta was wearing a seat belt and that Drake was not wearing a seat belt.

Loved animals, people

According to her Facebook page, Venatta had studied at Iowa Western Community College and at Northwest Missouri State University. A native of Southaven, Miss., she had relocated to Elliott. She previously worked at Dollar General in Red Oak and recently started working at Coe Creek Cafe in Elliott.

“She loved her animals and her people,” her sister, Brii Venatta said. “The last time I saw her, she gave me a hug because I was upset. Making other people happy meant everything to her. Her boyfriend, Adam (Svoboda), was her whole world. She loved him more than life itself.

“She came to Iowa because my mom wanted to settle down where we could have a life where she could let her kids play outside.”

According to information posted to Facebook, the family may not get possession of Venatta’s body for as long as two weeks, because the coroner’s office is backlogged. At least one friend took to Facebook to ask others to encourage the state to quickly return her body to the family.

Also, a Go Fund Me account was created in her name to help pay for funeral costs.