A chain-reaction crash during stop-and-go traffic on an Indiana interstate has left a Twin Cities couple dead and their teenage granddaughter hospitalized with severe injuries.
The crash occurred about 12:10 p.m. Saturday on westbound Interstate 70, 35 miles east of Indianapolis, according to the Henry County Sheriff's Office.
Dead at the scene near New Castle were Sylvia K. Shaw, 66, and John L. Shaw, 66, both of New Brighton, the Sheriff's Office said.
The 13-year-old granddaughter in the SUV, Katrina Tucker of Minneapolis, was removed by emergency personnel and airlifted to a hospital in Indianapolis, where she was being treated for a broken hip, and arm and leg fractures, a hospital spokeswoman said Sunday afternoon. Her condition on Monday was upgraded from citical to serious.
"You just wouldn't believe that she was able to survive that accident," said Sheriff's Deputy Landon Dean, the first responder on the scene, calling it "a miracle [that] she is going to be OK." Everyone in the SUV had on seat belts, he added.
The Shaws' SUV was "absolutely unrecognizable," the deputy said.
The couple and their granddaughter were returning from a trip to Washington, D.C., and on their way to Indianapolis to visit relatives, Dean said.
"You could see just a little spot of bluejeans; that's how I knew someone was in the back," Dean said, recalling when he first approached the mangled vehicle. "I could hear her crying."
