Photo by Kosciusko County Sheriff's Department

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WOWO): Kosciusko County officials are currently investigating a vehicular traffic crash south of Mentone that has left one teenager in serious condition and a second teen dead.

Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Deputies and emergency personnel responded Wednesday at 11:00 a.m. to a reported vehicular crash located on County Road 500 South, east of State Road 19.  Responders located a passenger, identified as Cole Allen Dowd, 19, Mentone, and the driver, Jordan Anthony Shafter, 18, Rochester, near the crash of a silver Ford Taurus.  Dowd was transported to Lutheran Hospital, Fort Wayne, in serious condition with various injuries.  Shafter died from blunt force trauma injuries he received after being ejected from the vehicle, according to Kosciusko County Coroner Michael Wilson.

Kosciusko County F.A.C.T. team members stated that a preliminary investigation into the crash has determined that Shafter had been traveling eastbound on County Road 500 south, when his vehicle went off the south edge of the roadway.  Shafter lost control of his vehicle and it began to roll on the gravel surface, ejecting him approximately 40 feet into a tree-line area.

Officers stated that the crash is still currently under investigation.  The Kosciusko County F.A.C.T. team was assisted at the scene by members of the Mentone Fire Department, Mentone E.M.S., Mentone Police Department, and the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department.