RILEY COUNTY – Sunday afternoon, a two-vehicle head on crash on US 50 in western Ripley County, Indiana claimed the life of a 37-year-old Jefferson County, Indiana man.
Shortly before 3:00 pm, emergency personnel responded to US 50 at County Road 600 West, near Holton in Ripley County, Indiana for a crash involving a passenger vehicle and a commercial motor vehicle. Initial responding officers found the passenger vehicle overturned in the roadway and the commercial motor vehicle overturned off the north side of the roadway.
The driver of the passenger vehicle, who was identified as Tyler Dukes, 37, of Madison, sustained fatal injuries and was pronounced deceased at the scene. The driver of the commercial motor vehicle, who was identified as Richard Murray, age 26, Spring Hill, Florida was transported to Margaret Mary Hospital in Batesville, Indiana for treatment of non-life threatening injuries.
The Indiana State Police-Versailles District Crash Reconstruction Team was called to the scene to conduct the investigation into the crash. The initial investigation indicates that Dukes was traveling eastbound on US 50 in a 2008 Mercury Mariner. For an unknown reason, Dukes’ vehicle crossed the centerline into the path of Murray’s westbound 2022 Volvo truck pulling a trailer. The vehicles collided nearly head on in the westbound lane of US 50.
The investigation remains ongoing. Toxicology results on both drivers are pending at this time.
The family of Tyler Dukes has been notified.
The Indiana State Police was assisted by the Ripley County Sheriff’s Office, Indiana Conservation Officers, Holton Fire Department, Versailles Fire Department, Ripley County EMS, and Ripley County Coroner’s Office.
