December 19, 2005

Two killed in automobile accident

       A Center Grove High School student was killed in a car accident Saturday while out shopping with her boyfriend for Christmas presents for charity.  Center Grove High School junior Megan Elizabeth Williams, 17, and a 22-year-old Huntington man both suffered head injuries and died at the scene of the accident on State Road 37, Johnson County Coroner Dave Lutz said.  The passenger in Williams’ car, 21-year-old Dustin VanDyke, was flown to Wishard Hospital in Indianapolis with undisclosed injuries.  Williams was turning onto State Road 37 from Bluff Road when her car was struck on the driver’s side by a northbound van driven by Keith Grossman at 8:30 p.m., Johnson County Sheriff Terry McLaughlin said. Grossman was not wearing his seat belt, but Williams and VanDyke were.  Police aren’t sure why Williams turned in front of the van, he said.  Grossman was headed to Huntington, a city about 60 miles north of Anderson, after visiting friends at Indiana University in Bloomington.

         Williams and VanDyke were headed to buy Christmas presents for the Children’s Bureau, Lutz said.  The Center Grove teen was involved with several activities at her school and in the community.  She had served as president and vice president of the Key Club and was recently selected as an ambassador to the Rotary Club.  Williams was in the honor’s program and a member of the Japanese Club, also serving as a host to foreign exchange students. She was also in the Johnson County Fair Queen contest.

         Police do not believe drugs or alcohol were factors in the crash, but will wait for lab tests to be sure, Lutz said.  VanDyke was stable in fair condition at Wishard Hospital on Sunday afternoon, according to a hospital spokesperson.  Services for Williams are being handled by G.H. Hermann Funeral Home in Greenwood.  (Reprinted with permission from the Daily Journal).
 
 

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