FREEMAN, Mo. — A woman is dead and three teenagers are seriously hurt after a head-on crash along Missouri Highway 2 Thursday night. 

According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, just after 8 p.m. a 2002 GMC driven by a 16-year-old from Freeman, Missouri, was traveling eastbound when he crossed over the center line near 271st St.

The GMC traveled into the westbound lane and struck a 2012 Ford head-on. The Ford then veered off the highway into a ditch. 

The driver of the Ford, later identified as 66-year-old Cynthia L. Wasser of Ottawa, Kansas, was taken to Frontier Medical where she was pronounced dead. 

People that new Wasser, called her Candy.

“Based on the condition that she was in, we were all expecting her to make it to 100 very handedly,” Wasser’s boss Shawn Turner at Ottawa’s Turner Flowers & Country Store told FOX4 Friday.

Wasser and her husband Scott both worked there. Turner said Wasser had been out of town, visiting her new grandbaby when the crash happened.

“She was headed back home because she hadn’t seen Scott in a few days, and she and Scott were scheduled to work here at the flower shop this morning,” Turner said.

Wasser was well known in Franklin County and was also a Gold Star mom. The couple’s son Christopher was a Marine who died in Iraq in April 2004 while serving during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Turner said Wasser often had strong opinions, and she was articulate in sharing them.

“Even though I was her boss, she was a mentor to me and helped me to grow as a person and as a business owner, and I really appreciate that time with her,” Turner continued.

All three teenagers were taken to area hospitals in serious condition. One came back to the crash scene Friday.

According to the MSHP crash report, Wasser was wearing a seatbelt, but none of the teens were wearing one at the time of the crash. Why the teen crossed the center line’s unknown right now.