Two Ottawa men were transported by air ambulance to area hospitals after a single-vehicle wreck that claimed one life Wednesday evening on a gravel road in northern Franklin County. 

James Richey, 49, Ottawa, a passenger in the vehicle, was pronounced dead at the scene at 4391 Iowa Road by the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office.

Eric Davis, 25, Ottawa, the driver of the vehicle, was taken to Stormont-Vail Hospital in Topeka. Passenger Lance Geier, 23, Ottawa, was taken to the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, Kan. Their conditions were not yet available Thursday morning. Both hospitals said neither patient showed up in there systems.

The cause of the wreck that happened at about 5:30 p.m. Wednesday still is under investigation, Jerrod Fredricks, master deputy with the sheriff’s office, said Thursday. Alcohol could possibly have played a role in the wreck, Fredricks said.

Services for Richey are being handled by Dengel and Son Mortuary, Ottawa, and will be announced later.

Click the link for more information on the wreck as published in Thursday's Herald: http://bit.ly/OeBoRF