Full Notification

The passenger has been identified as Nicholas James Vega, 26 of Medaryville, Indiana.  His family has been notified.

See original news release below: 

Jasper County-A passenger in a car died when he was ejected from a vehicle that lost control entering the rest park on I-65.

Preliminary investigation by Trooper Justin Hansen revealed at approximately 9:17 p.m., yesterday, Wednesday, October 12th, 2016, evening, a 2005 Honda Accord, driven by Zachary Smith Vetter, 25 of Crown Point was south bound on I-65 entering the rest park at the 231.5 mile marker (this is approximately 1 ½ miles north of the Demotte/Roselawn exit) at a high rate of speed.  As you enter the rest park there is a split in the road for cars to go to the right to park and semis/trucks to go to the left to park.  Vetter took neither and continued straight hitting a large state highway sign sideways on the driver’s side.  This sheared the 12 foot poles holding the sign up off at the ground.  The Accord began to roll going down an embankment into a muddy, reed filled ditch, at some point the passenger was ejected out of the car.  The Accord rolled out of the ditch and came to rest in the entrance lane for cars at the rest park. 

The passenger that was ejected came to rest under a 2006 Freightliner rear tandem tires, owned by KOS Trans of Hartland, Wisconsin.  The Freightliner was parked in the first parking slot in the semi/truck lot in the rest park.  The poles after being sheared off hit the same 2006 Freightliner’s trailer.  The driver of the Freightliner was in his sleeper asleep. 

The passenger was pronounced dead at the scene by the Jasper County Coroner of massive blunt force trauma.  He was not wearing a seat belt.

Vetter was cut out of his seat belt by a Jasper County Sheriff’s deputy and was taken by ambulance to Riverside Medical Center in Kankakee, Illinois with non-life threatening injuries.

A German Shepherd was also in the Accord and was not injured.  The Shepherd kept watch over the deceased until Jasper County Animal Control came to retrieve him.

The name of the deceased is being withheld pending notification to the family.

Assisting: Troopers Brandon Bohling, Kurt Jones, and Corey Adam, Corporal Dan Becker, Jasper County Sheriff’s Department, Keener Township Fire and EMS, Jasper County Coroner, Jasper County Animal Control and Cheever’s Towing

All criminal defendants are to be presumed innocent until, and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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