BLUE’S CLUES animator Paul Beard died April 22, 2005, from injuries suffered the previous day in a two-vehicle crash southeast of Kansas City, Missouri, reports THE GRAND RAPIDS PRESS. He was 27 years old.

Beard, a 2000 graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, was a passenger in a Ford Explorer driven by his girlfriend, Elizabeth Smail, when she lost control and swerved into oncoming traffic on state highway 13. A second Ford Explorer struck the passenger-side door, where Beard was sitting. Smail was injured, but survived.

Beard, who was living in New York, was visiting Smail during a vacation from work.

Dale Clowdis, a team leader for the interactive show, said Beard was a talented and dedicated animator. Clowdis has been working with Beard on a new animated series, WONDER PETS, which is set to debut next year.

Funeral arrangements were pending at O'Brien-Eggebeen-Gerst Funeral Home.