Adam Huening
May 14, 2008 04:31 pm
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Amidst the chaos of Monday’s violent afternoon crash on Interstate 74 that left one man dead and another clinging to life, initial details were sketchy.
With the scene shut down, traffic stalled and emergency personnel fully involved in the fatal crash, access to the sight was unavailable. To make matters worse, a similar violent crash occurred more than 20 miles to the east, which cut off power to Batesville for several hours. Details of both accidents flooded police radio bans at the same time.
More than 24 hours after the crash on I-74, things were becoming clearer, yet the details remained grim. The Decatur County Sheriff’s Department is still putting the pieces together, according to Lt. Rick Underhill who is assisting Deputy Steve Snyder in the investigation.
He said the investigation is 95 percent complete, and the department was waiting on the opinion of an Indiana State Police crash reconstructionist expected to view the material today.
According to a press release issued by the DCSD, at approximately 4:30 p.m. the DCSD responded to a one-vehicle accident on I-74 westbound near the 128 mile marker. What they found was the twisted remains of a red 1997 Toyota pick-up truck.
According to the release, the truck was traveling westbound when it ran off the left side of the road for unknown reasons. The truck traveled into the median, over corrected and zoomed across both westbound lanes and struck a guard rail, which caused the truck to roll. The two occupants - Dillon L. Miller, 20, of Columbus and John P. Cline, 24, of Shelbyville - were thrown from the truck.
Miller was pronounced dead at the scene. Cline was airlifted to Decatur County Memorial Hospital then Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis. Underhill noted he was unsure of Cline’s condition but he suffered serious injuries in the crash.
Underhill said they were waiting on blood tests and toxicology reports to help determine the cause to the crash. Toxicology reports on the deceased could take weeks before results are returned. He noted the truck was registered to family members of Miller in Columbus but it was unknown who was driving the vehicle.
The DCSD was assisted at the scene by fire departments from Greensburg, St. Paul and Adams as well as the Decatur County EMS and Coroner’s office.
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