Fatal Crash Rocks Town

LOOGOOTEE, IND. (WTHI) -     Police are sorting out the details and a small community is dealing with its grief following a weekend traffic accident in southern Indiana.

     Martin County Deputies report 19-year-old Nathaniel Schuetz of Loogootee was killed in the one vehicle crash near Alfordsville.

     His 3 passengers..19-year-old Colton Davis, 20 year old Corbin Wildman and 18 year old Dirk Fahey were all injured.

     The weekend crash hit the Loogootee area hard.

     Alfordsville Road is a hilly, narrow ribbon of pavement, and it was  just inside the Martin County line where a car driven by Nathaniel Shuetz slammed into a tree and took his life.

     Three passengers survived the crash although 2 were badly injured.

     Deputies so far do not have a firm answer as to what happened.

     "I don't know if there's alcohol involved or speed," said Martin County Chief Deputy Tony Dant.  "There's a lot of rumors, a small community.  All I can say right now is it's still under investigation at this time."

     While authorities are still investigating the crash they say in this rural area, this is the kind of accident that hits the community hard.

     All 4 either attended or graduated from Loogootee High School.

     Schuetz had just graduated from there.

     "There's a lot of memories there yet with the boys involved in the accident," said Dant, "so I'm sure the school is looking into it as far as any counseling needed with the students."

     School officials declined to go on camera, but said some students did visit grief counselors, and they called the building eerily quiet.

     Officials say it will take some time for the scars to heal that came from the crash on a narrow ribbon of road.
 
     There is no word on when the investigation might conclude.