Fellow officers remember Anamosa police officer killed in off-duty crash

An Anamosa police officer is being remembered fondly by colleagues after he was killed in an off-duty crash in Jackson County Saturday morning.

Mitchell Kelchen, 40, of Bellevue, was killed in the crash that occurred at 7:38 a.m. in the 1600 block of Highway 62, just north of Maquoketa.

According to the Iowa State Patrol, the crash occurred when a 2008 Chrysler Town & Country driven by Marjorie L. Hendrickson, 60, of Bellevue, and a 2012 Buick Enclave driven by Tina M. Kelchen, 40, of Bellevue, collided head-on on Highway 62. Hendrickson's minivan crossed the centerline and struck Kelchen's sport-utility vehicle, reports indicate.

Tina Kelchen and Hendrickson both were taken to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics by helicopter.

'Rest in Peace Mitch,” Doug Hilton of the Jones County Sheriff's Office wrote Saturday afternoon in a Facebook post. The fire department shared Hilton's post, adding 'Mitch was the town police in Cascade a couple years ago. This is sad news rest in peace brother!”

'RIP Mitch we will take it from here,” the Anamosa Police Department posted on its Facebook page Saturday night. The post was accompanied by a pair of photos of Kelchen's police vehicle adorned with flowers and a blue-striped banner.

The Cedar Rapids Police Department also posted to Facebook about Kelchen's death Saturday writing, 'Our deepest sympathies and prayers to the Kelchen and Anamosa Police Department families on the tragic loss of Officer Mitch Kelchen who died in an automobile accident this morning.”

The crash remains under investigation.