Dec. 4 Crash Victim Identified Through DNATIPPECANOE TOWNSHIP – Nontraditional identification methods using DNA were used to identify a Dec. 4 car crash victim due to the extent of the damage.
The victim was identified as Makensie Marie Thomas, 17, of Syracuse, in a Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office news release provided on Monday.
The crash occurred in the early morning hours of Dec. 4 on CR 500E, north of CR 650N in Tippecanoe Township, the release states.
At 5:25 a.m. Dec. 4, emergency personnel were dispatched to a single-vehicle collision on CR 500E, approximately one-half mile north of CR 650N, after a passerby located a vehicle with significant fire damage, the release states.
The preliminary results of the investigation, conducted by the KCSO Fatal Team, indicate that Thomas was the only occupant of a 2011 Chevrolet Cruze that was traveling north on CR 500E prior to the impact. The Cruze left the east side of CR 500E and hit a tree in the heavy fog conditions.
According to her obituary in Monday’s newspaper, Thomas was born July 21, 2004, in Warsaw, to Matthew B. and Brandy M. Lambert Thomas. She was a senior at Wawasee High School, and formerly worked at the Dog House in Syracuse. She was a former member of the Helping Hands 4-H Club in Syracuse.
Owen Family Funeral Home, North Webster, is handling arrangements.
Responding agencies included the KCSO, Syracuse Police, Tippecanoe Township Fire Territory and the Kosciusko County coroner.
