DeKALB COUNTY, IN (WTVB) – The Indiana State Police has released the names of the three persons who died following a seven vehicle crash involving two semis and five passenger vehicles on Wednesday afternoon on northbound I-69 about three miles north of Auburn, Indiana.
One of the deceased victims was identified as 65-year-old William Charles Heil of Angola, Indiana. He was the driver of one of the passenger cars and was pronounced dead at the scene.
The other two fatal victims were from Charlotte. 81-year-old Dale Eugene Lowe and his 72-year-old wife Jean were passengers in one of the other vehicles. They both succumbed to their injuries after being transported to a Fort Wayne hospital.
State Police report the crash happened at about 3:15 p.m. near mile marker 332 as traffic had slowed or stopped due to construction delays on I-69 almost two miles to the north near U.S. 6.
According a State Police preliminary crash investigation, a semi-tractor/trailer driven by 70-year-old James Crager of Angola, Indiana was approaching the slowed traffic at a high rate of speed. Troopers say he “failed to slow or take evasive action to avoid the congested traffic which led to a catastrophic chain of events.”
The crash shut down the northbound lanes of I-69 for over five hours. This created a lengthy traffic back up for several miles. The investigation into the crash is ongoing.
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