A South Bend man died in a single-vehicle wreck on Interstate 65 between Uniontown and Seymour.
William A. Dudek, 61, had to be extricated from a 2016 Chevrolet Cruze after it left the roadway, struck a guardrail, became airborne, crossed the northbound lanes and caught fire this morning, according to a news release from Sgt. Stephen Wheeles, public information officer for the Indiana State Police Versailles Post.
Dudek was transported to Schneck Medical Center in Seymour, where he succumbed to injuries sustained in the crash, Wheeles said. He was pronounced dead by the Jackson County Coroner’s Office.
According to the initial investigation by Trooper Andrew Garrett with the Indiana State Police Versailles Crash Reconstruction Team, Dudek was traveling northbound on I-65 near the 44 mile marker in southern Jackson County around 9 a.m.
For an unknown reason, Dudek’s vehicle drove off of the right side of the roadway. It then hit a guardrail and went airborne before crossing the northbound lanes and coming to rest in the median, Wheeles said.
Witnesses extinguished the fire that started when the vehicle came to rest, Wheeles said.
The northbound lanes of I-65 were closed for nearly two hours for crash investigation and cleanup.
The crash remains under investigation, Wheeles said.
Garrett was assisted by other members of the Versailles Crash Reconstruction Team and personnel with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department, Indiana State Excise Police, Jackson County Emergency Medical Services, Seymour Fire Department and Crothersville-Vernon Township Volunteer Fire Department.
During the investigation, traffic was diverted off of I-65 onto State Road 250 to U.S. 31 at Uniontown. A separate unrelated property damage wreck occurred on southbound I-65 nearby that backed up southbound traffic for nearly an hour.
Find the story in Wednesday’s Tribune and online at tribtown.com.