Tribune staff reports

A 76-year-old Jackson County man died in a two-vehicle wreck reported shortly after noon Tuesday just west of Brownstown.

Lonnie Delph of Brownstown was pronounced dead by Jackson County Coroner Mike Bobb at the scene of the wreck on U.S. 50 just east of the bridge over the East Fork White River.

The wreck involved a 2007 Ford Focus that Delph was driving west on U.S. 50 and a 2012 GMC box truck being driven east by Scott Ortlieb, 54, of Seymour, Jackson County Sheriff’s Department Lt. Darin Downs said.

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He said the wreck occurred after Ortlieb’s truck, which belongs to AVI Foodsystems of Seymour, crossed the centerline and hit Delph’s vehicle.

“It wasn’t head-on,” Downs said.

He said the investigation shows that Delph’s vehicle rolled at least twice before coming to rest off the north side of U.S. 50. The box truck also wound up going off of the north side of the road and into floodwaters from the river, which has spilled out of its banks after recent rains.

Brownstown Police Chief Tom Hanner helped Ortlieb from his truck, which didn’t overturn but was sitting upright in about three feet of water, Downs said.

Delph was trapped in his vehicle and had to be freed by firefighters with Brownstown Volunteer Fire Department and Carr Township Volunteer Fire Department.

Ortlieb was treated at the scene by personnel with Jackson County Emergency Medical Services and taken to Schneck Medical Center in Seymour for evaluation, Downs said.

He said the cause of the crash remains under investigation.

Police initially blocked both lanes of U.S. 50 but were able to reopen one lane at about 12:40 p.m.

County Officer Rob Henley, Detective Bob Lucas and Lt. Andy Wayman assisted.