State Police Investigating Double Suicide, House Fire
Posted
Craig Brosman-
MENTONE – Indiana State Police investigators are looking into a double suicide and house fire near Mentone Monday. At 12:29 p.m., Nick Lowry, the 18-year-old son of David Lowry, 53, committed suicide at his home, 1421 S. CR 800W, Mentone. Lowry was found by his father who had recently brough him home from the Burket Educational Center. At 9:09 p.m., Kosciusko County Central Dispatch received a call from the same address regarding suicide attempts.The Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department responded to the home of Lowry and spoke with him concerning his possible suicide. According to Chad Hill, the KCSD Public Information Officer, deputies stayed and spoke with Lowry for a lengthy amount of time before leaving. Hill said that Lowry told the deputies he was not gong to kill himself, but he was sad and wanted to be alone and rest. After there were reports of attempted suicide at the home, the Mentone Fire Department got a call for a fire at the home. At 11:47 p.m. Monday, the Mentone Fire Department was dispatched to the Lowry home for a fully engulfed home fire. When the Mentone Fire Department was on scene, they found four separate structure fires and David Lowry dead on a picnic table in the front yard. MFD Fire Chief Mike Yazel said it looked like the fires were set separately. “No one has been able to get into the home to investigate, because the fire was too hot this morning,” Yazel said. “From the layout of the buildings one could assume that the fires were set separately.” Yazel said that the buildings were a total loss. He estimated the damage at $150,000. Yazel cited high winds as a factor in the severity of the blaze. “If you were going to burn something, last night was the night to do it,” Yazel said. “There were 20-mile-an-hour winds.” Yazel also said that there were items of value that were removed from the home prior to the fire. “There were items of value removed and put in his truck from the home,” Yazel said. “There were also items of value collected together from the other buildings.” Tippecanoe Valley High School Principal and Burket Educational Center Director Kirk Doehrmann said that once they found out about the suicide of one of their students, they informed the students, parents and assembled the Crisis Intervention Team. “We are going to continue to monitor the students very closely,” Doehrmann said. “Our teachers are a very caring staff that know their students and will talk to their students about their feelings.” Doehrmann said that there were counseling and mental health services available to any students who need it. Doehrmann further stated that he knew the student in question very well and that he was a quiet kid, but would not speak at further length to the character of the student. Nick Lowry was a student at the Burket Educational Center. MFD was assisted by the Burket Fire Department, Atwood Fire Department, Claypool and the Mentone EMS. The Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department and the Indiana State Police were on hand to investigate the deaths. The investigation is still ongoing at this time between detectives from the KCSD, Indiana State Police and the Kosciusko Major Crimes Task Force.
