Coroner Identifies Winamac Teen Killed In School Bus Crash

ARGOS, IN — A Winamac student is dead and another injured after a crash involving a school bus and a semi-truck Wednesday morning in Marshall County. Marshall County Coroner John Grolich identified the teen who was killed as 13-year-old Owen M. Abbott (pictured). The teen and his classmates had been on their way to see a Christmas musical in Warsaw.

Indiana State Police said the crash happened at U.S. 31 and 13th Road near Argos just after 9 a.m. while 38 students, three adult chaperones and the bus driver were on board.

State police said 54-year-old bus driver Cheryl Warner, of Winamac, stopped at a railroad crossing just south of Michigan Road as required by law. As the bus began to accelerate again, it was struck from behind by a Freightliner straight truck driven by 26-year-old Tylor Perry of Camby. The truck, which was carrying a trailer, hit the bus on the rear left side.

Abbott, who was seated in the rear left of the bus, was pronounced dead at the scene by the Marshall County coroner. A GoFundMe campaign has been launched to help his parents, Britni and Nick Fritz and Dean Abbott, pay for funeral expenses.

Another student, 14-year-old Zane Bell, was airlifted to Memorial Hospital in South Bend with what police believed to be non-life threatening injuries.

Plymouth schools sent a bus to take the rest of the students to St. Joseph Hospital in Plymouth to be checked and reunited with their parents, where a spokeswoman for the hospital said 22 students were treated and released.

A parent told WNDU the students were from Winamac Community Middle School, part of the Eastern Pulaski Community School Corporation, and were on their way to see "Elf The Musical" in Warsaw.

Police said weather is not believed to be a factor in the crash, but have said little else about what led Perry to hit the bus. Toxicology reports are pending for both drivers as required by law for all vehicle operators involved in a crash with serious injuries or death.

Route 31 reopened just after 5 p.m. Wednesday, roughly eight hours after the crash, state police said.

More: Children Identified In Indiana Bus Stop Crash, Woman Arrested

News of the fatal crash comes just over a month after Patch reported three children were killed and another critically injured as they walked to their school bus in Rochester. The four children were hit by a truck driven by 24-year-old Alyssa Shepherd, of Rochester, who was charged with reckless homicide after investigators say she passed the school bus while its stop arm was out. She claimed she saw the flashing lights on the stop arm, but did not realize it was a school bus, according to police.

Patch will continue updating this story.

Photo credited to GoFundMe, a Patch promotional partner.