ORLAND, IN (WTVB) – A 17-year-old Orland teen died Tuesday morning following a two-vehicle collision at a rural Steuben County intersection.
Steuben County Sheriff’s deputies and local first responders were called to State Road 327 and County Road 350 North in Jackson Township at approximately 7:20 a.m. after a 911 caller reported the crash and indicated that one of the drivers was unconscious.
According to the preliminary investigation,17-year-old Febie Booher, was stopped eastbound on County Road 350 North in a tan 2017 Chevy Malibu when she pulled into the path of a northbound white 2011 Ford F-150 pickup truck driven by 36-year-old Jessica Gaetz,, of rural Orland.
Gaetz braked and swerved but could not avoid striking the driver’s side of Booher’s vehicle, and despite life-saving efforts by Orland Fire Rescue and Steuben County EMS, Booher succumbed to her injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Gaetz, who was wearing a seatbelt, was transported to Cameron Hospital for treatment of minor injuries, including a possible broken wrist.
Deputies noted that Booher was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the collision, though airbags deployed in both vehicles, and that the weather was clear, the road was dry.
Alcohol is not suspected to be a factor in the ongoing investigation, which is being assisted by the Steuben County FACT crash team, Angola Police, and Parkview Samaritan Helicopter.
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