MONROE — A Freeport couple riding together on a motorcycle died in a three-vehicle crash about three miles north of Monroe earlier this week, according to the Green County Sheriff's Office.

Cynthia L. Carroll, 72, and her husband Gene W. Carroll, 71, were thrown from their motorcycle and pronounced dead at the scene by the Green County Coroner.

Multiple 911 calls reported the crash on Wisconsin 69 south of County FF at about 3:30 p.m. Monday, July 29. Deputies closed the highway and rerouted traffic until about 9 p.m. that night.

The preliminary investigation found that Shane H. Olson, 49, Monroe, was stopped in a Ford pickup truck on Wis. 69 facing north, waiting to turn left into a private driveway, when a second northbound pickup truck rear-ended him.

The impact forced Olson's pickup into the southbound lane, where it collided with a southbound motorcycle occupied by the Carrolls. The motorcycle went off the highway into the ditch, ejecting both riders. Only one was wearing a helmet. The motorcycle briefly caught on fire due to leaking gasoline. A witness to the crash extinguished the fire.

Gary L. Grunder, 69, Monticello, was identified as the driver of the second pickup. He was taken by Green County EMS to the Monroe Clinic ER for treatment of injuries he sustained.

Olson and his three passengers, Timothy Olson, 15, Jonathon Olson, 13, and Lilly Olson, 7, were uninjured. All were wearing seatbelts.

The crash remains under investigation pending results of toxicology tests along with reports from the Wisconsin State Patrol accident reconstruction team, according to Sheriff Jeff Skatrud.

The victims in this crash were Green County's second and third traffic fatalities of 2019.