Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
ETNA GREEN - Two central Indiana women were killed and another injured in a two-vehicle accident Wednesday afternoon near Etna Green.
Ernette B. Tenney, 57, of Brownsburg, and a passenger in the Jeep that Tenney was driving, Sharon K. Meunier, 62, of Danville, were pronounced dead at the scene of the 4:09 p.m. accident at the intersection of U.S. 30 and Ind. 19.
Another passenger in Tenney's vehicle, Eileen C. Besso, 80, of Brownsburg, suffered unspecified injuries and was airlifted from the scene to Parkview Hospital, Fort Wayne, where she was listed in fair condition this morning.
Besso is Meunier's sister and Tenney's mother, police said.
According to the Kosciusko County Sheriff's Department, Tenney was southbound on Ind. 19 when a pickup hauling a trailer came through a red light at the intersection. The pickup, driven by Bart D. Dewitt, 40, of Plymouth, was eastbound on U.S. 30 when it struck Tenney's Jeep on the passenger side. The impact caused Tenney's vehicle to flip onto its side.
Dewitt apparently was talking to his son just prior to the accident and looked away from the road for a moment. He told police the light was green when he looked away and, when he looked back, the other vehicle was in front of him.
Dewitt suffered unspecified injuries and a passenger in his truck, Derrick Dewitt, 18, of Plymouth, suffered facial injuries. Both were treated at Kosciusko Community Hospital and released.
As standard procedure in a fatal traffic accident, Bart Dewitt was tested for alcohol and drug use. The results of those tests were not yet available.
The accident remains under investigation.
Assisting at the scene of the accident were personnel from Warsaw and Bourbon police departments, Indiana State Police, Etna Green and Atwood fire departments and Multi-Township Emergency Medical Service.
