October 12, 1979

Students discover fatal wreck

       Two Center Grove high school students running traps this morning before classes discovered the wreckage of a truck accident which had claimed the life of a 45 year-old Minnesota man. Shortly after 7 a.m. Johnson County sheriff’s deputies and White River Township emergency crews were summoned to the Honey Creek overpass on State Road 37 north of Smith Valley Road where Joe Henderson and Tim Henry, both 16, discovered the smashed truck cab. Inside the wreckage was the body of a Lakeland, Minn. Man. Johnson County Sheriff’s Deputy Bill Bradley investigated the accident and later this morning told the Daily Journal “at this time we really can’t determine when the accident occurred.” He explained that the truck engine was cold and that indicated the accident had occurred some time before the discovery. With Johnson County blanketed under a thick fog in the pre-dawn hours, he indicated that the crash could have occurred without any other motorist or nearby resident witnessing it. Johnson County Coroner Richard Tudor officially declared the victim dead at the scene of the crash. He indicated that an autopsy was likely, to determine the exact cause of the victim’s death. Judging from evidence at the scene, investigators were attempting to determine if the victim had fallen asleep at the wheel prior to the crash. There was no evidence that the driver used his brakes before the final impact. The cab was southbound on the highway. Tire marks left in the tall grass along the outside shoulder of the pavement indicated that the cab had traveled more than 300 feet before reaching the creek embankment and becoming airborne. The cab landed on the other side of the creek, smashing into a concrete bridge support. Perry Township extraction units were called to the scene, however they were not needed. The victim was transported by Myers Ambulance Service to the morgue at Johnson County Memorial Hospital.

         Bishop noted that the victim had rented a motel room at a truck stop on the Indianapolis south side around 2:30 p.m. Sheriff’s deputies in trying to pinpoint the exact time of the crash were tracing his movements. He had apparently finished delivering one load of goods, and was due to pick up another today. It was the 14^th fatal crash to occur on Johnson County roads this year. All have been single fatalities. The last crash in the county occurred on Sept. 26, when a rural Greenwood man’s truck slammed into a utility pole at the intersection of Greenwood Road and County Road 325E in Clark Township.  (Reprinted with permission from the Daily Journal)
   
 

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