An Olathe woman died Monday, Oct. 5, after her SUV struck a guardrail and crashed into a ditch on the I-35 exit ramp at 75th Street in Merriam.

Angela M. Carter, 52, was driving a 2024 Chevrolet Suburban on the northbound I-35 exit ramp at about 10 a.m. The vehicle left the roadway to the left and hit the guardrail about 200 feet south of 75th Street, according to the Kansas Highway Patrol's crash log.

The Suburban continued across the 75th Street intersection, struck several raised medians and came to rest in a ditch on the northeast side of the intersection. The Kansas Highway Patrol (KHP) classified the crash as fatal. Carter was wearing a seatbelt.

The Johnson County Post first reported the crash. According to the Johnson County Post, recorded radio traffic from responding units suggested Carter's condition may have been a medical emergency rather than trauma caused by the crash. The KHP crash log makes no mention of a possible medical emergency, and the official cause of death has not been publicly confirmed.

Overland Park firefighters and Johnson County Med-Act paramedics responded to the scene, along with police officers from Overland Park and Merriam. The crash site straddled two jurisdictions. The south side of 75th Street falls within Overland Park, while the north side is in Merriam, according to county mapping, which explains why both departments sent officers.

KHP troopers closed the entrance ramp to northbound I-35 from 75th Street while they investigated. The closure lasted nearly three hours. The ramp reopened before 1 p.m.

KHP trooper K288 investigated the crash. The crash log listed no hit-and-run and no police pursuit.

Carter was taken to the Johnson County Medical Examiner's Office. KHP troopers notified next of kin at 11:53 a.m. Monday.

The crash was the second fatal highway incident in the Overland Park area in two days. An 80-year-old Independence man died Saturday, Oct. 3, in a separate crash on I-435 in Leawood.

KHP has not announced a timeline for its investigation or the Medical Examiner's findings.