One dies in I-70 accident near Terre Haute - 13 WTHR Indianapolis

A Kansas woman died and an Anderson couple was seriously injured Sunday night in multi-vehicle crash on Interstate 70 east of Terre Haute. The crash shut down the eastbound lanes of I-70 for more than three hours.

Police say Charles Loyd of Anderson and his wife, Connie, who was riding in the passenger seat of their pickup truck, were flown to IU Health-Methodist Hospital with injuries termed life-threatening by State Police Sgt. Joe Watts.

The crash took place just before 7:00 p.m. Sunday.

Watts said a tractor-trailer from Greenville, Tennessee had stopped on the eastbound shoulder of I-70 near the 12 mile marker.  Another trailer, from Anaheim, California, also became disabled a few feet east of the Tennessee truck.

Eastbound traffic was slowing and merging into the passing lane for a wrecker responding to the disabled vehicles, when an eastbound 2005 Volvo tractor pulling a box trailer loaded with frozen foods, driven by Richard L. Merry, 51, of Hamilton, Ohio struck the Loyd pickup.

The Loyd's red S10 was then forced into the rear of a gray 2008 Chevrolet Colorado pickup, and both vehicles then struck the first tractor-trailer on the shoulder.

A woman driving the gray Chevy was pronounced dead at the scene by Vigo County Coroner Dr. Roland Kohr. Her male passenger, also believed to be from Kansas, was flown to IU Health-Methodist with head, facial and internal injuries. Police say the woman was not wearing a belt.  Police will not release her name until they notify relatives.

An autopsy is scheduled for late tomorrow afternoon and police should have more information at that time. Drug and alcohol testing is underway, and it's unknown if either played a role in the crash.

The Interstate re-opened shortly before 11:00 p.m.

The crash remains under investigation.