GREENWOOD — Indiana State Police said two passengers died in a single vehicle accident at 9:38 a.m. Sunday on I-65 northbound near the 96 mile marker, six miles north of the Franklin exit.
State police said the vehicle ran off the road and struck a tree.
When first responders arrived they found two unresponsive females inside the car, along with a conscious and alert third person who was driving in the vehicle, state police said.
Despite life saving efforts, passengers 52-year-old Cearmease Evans and 17-year-old Chaise Franklin, both from Chicago, were pronounced deceased at the scene, state police said. The Johnson County coroner responded to the scene to investigate the deaths and recover the remains of the deceased. The third person in the vehicle was transported to a local hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
Indiana State Police crash reconstructionists responded to the scene to investigate. Preliminary information revealed a gold 2011 Jeep ran off the road into the ditch to the right side of the road.
The Jeep then impacted several trees on the passenger side of the vehicle. Evans was in the front passenger seat and Franklin was in the rear passenger seat. According to Johnson County Coroner Mike Pruitt, both sustained traumatic injuries from impact. Investigators are still trying to determine what caused the Jeep to run off the roadway. The right two lanes of I-65 were restricted for several hours while the crash was investigated, the lanes have since re-opened.
The circumstances of this crash are still under investigation and there is no further information to release at this time.
