Logansport, IN – A wrong-way crash involving three vehicles shut down part of westbound US 24 for about three hours Wednesday morning and left two people seriously injured east of Logansport.
According to the Cass County Sheriff’s Office, dispatchers received a report of a crash with entrapment on US 24 east of Logansport Road at approximately 5:23 a.m. Deputies found that the collision had blocked the highway’s westbound lanes.
A preliminary investigation determined that 57-year-old Rose Stambaugh of Peru was driving a 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee eastbound in the westbound lanes of US 24, authorities said.
The Jeep struck a westbound 2017 Dodge Ram pickup driven by 51-year-old Matthew Kiefer of Peru. The pickup rolled over and was then struck by a 2013 Dodge Dart driven by 35-year-old Zachary Ault, also of Peru.
Stambaugh and Kiefer suffered serious injuries and were flown by medical helicopters to a trauma center in Fort Wayne. Firefighters had to extricate Kiefer from the overturned pickup.
Ault sustained injuries described as non-life-threatening and was taken by ambulance to Parkview Logansport.
Westbound US 24 between US 31 and Logansport Road remained closed for approximately three hours while crews cleared the wreckage and investigators reconstructed the crash.
The sheriff’s office said alcohol is not believed to have contributed to the collision. The cause of the wrong-way travel remains under investigation.
Multiple agencies assisted, including Logansport police, Indiana State Police, Miami County deputies, local firefighters, emergency management personnel and medical crews.
Anyone with additional information may contact the Cass County Sheriff’s Office at 574-753-7800.
