Firefighters clean up the roadway following a two-vehicle head-on collision that left two persons dead and a third person in critical condition. Photo by the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office.

News Release

PIERCETON — Manuel Apolinar Tlahuetl, 24, Warsaw, and Heather M. Rice, 54, Columbia City, died from injuries sustained in a two-vehicle head-on crash Thursday evening, Nov. 28.

The crash was reported at 8:49 p.m. on Old Road 30E, west of Brallier Road, in Washington Township.

Merle Ray Miller, 54, Ligonier, sustained internal injuries and is listed in critical condition in a Fort Wayne Hospital. He was flown from the scene by Samaritan Air Ambulance.

Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Officers continue their investigation into the double fatal crash.

When emergency personnel arrived at the scene, they found a 2011 Huyndai Sonata, driven by Tlahuetl and a 2017 Chevrolet Equinox, driven by Rice. For reasons yet to be determined, the two vehicles collided head-on.

Assisting at the scene was the Winona Lake Police Department, Pierceton Fire Department, Tippecanoe Township Fire Department, Lutheran EMS, Samaritan, Kosciusko County Coroner’s Office, Reichert & Knepp Wrecker Service.

The accident remains under investigation by the KSCO FACT team.