EDMONTON -- Mounties suspect speed and alcohol are to blame for a crash that claimed the life of a 23-year-old Leduc, AB, woman -- just months after her brother was charged with the impaired driving death of a 17-year-old girl.

Leduc RCMP say a 2004 black Dodge Neon was eastbound down Black Gold Drive when it lost control and struck a light pole near the Leduc Recreation Centre around 3 a.m. Sept. 9.

The driver, a 22-year-old Leduc County man, and the passenger, Krystal Dawn Owchar, 23, were both injured. Owchar was rushed in critical condition to an Edmonton hospital, where she would later die of her injuries.

The man was also transported with minor injuries, but his condition is unknown.

Leduc RCMP believe alcohol and speed were a factor in the crash, but no charges have yet been laid.

Owchar's brother is Trevor James Dahl, who was charged with dangerous driving causing death and failure to provide a blood sample in a brutal early-morning wreck Feb. 11.

The crash killed 17-year-old high school senior Koralea Boettger.

Boettger's mother, Janel Boettger, says the months since her daughter's death have been tumultuous.

She said aside from trying to come to terms with her daughter's death, they've had to deal with contention from Dahl's family as well.

"This family should have learned," she said from her home in Stettler, AB.
"I was wondering how they were going to handle it, but right off the bat their defending the guy driving the car."

Janel said she's part of a group of parents across the province that have lost kids to impaired drivers, including the parents of the four Grande Prairie, AB, football players.

She said the fact that Owchar's family is defending the driver of the car, who is suspected to have been under the influence, has angered the parent group.

Her blog has turned into a shrine of her daughter, who she describes as "ridiculously funny," but also an outlet for her pain.

"It's weird. She's gone, but we all lost our lives as we knew it that day too," she said.

Dahl was recently released from custody -- a pretrial hearing is set for Feb. 2013.

--With files from Bobby Roy