ISP: Mich. man was unresponsive before fatal I-70 crash

ISP photo

By Lucy Perry
Indiana Central News
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CLAY COUNTY -  A fatal crash on Interstate 70 in Clay County remains under investigation tonight after a driver died and his passenger was hospitalized.

• Driver- Daryl W. Duhrkoff, of Portage, Michigan, was pronounced deceased at the scene of the accident by the Clay County Corner. 
• Passenger- Shirley R. Lively, also of Portage, Michigan, was transported to a local hospital with non-life threatening injuries suffered in the crash.

Indiana State Police responded to the single vehicle crash on I- 70 in the eastbound lanes near Vigo County at the 18 mile marker around 1:30 p.m.

Sgt. Matt Ames said Duhrkoff was traveling westbound in a 2005 Chevrolet when he appears to have experienced a medical condition which caused him to stop breathing and veer off the roadway.

​"The Chevrolet came to an abrupt stop upon entering the wood line on the southside of Interstate 70," Ames said, adding that First responders, and good samaritans rendered first-aid to Duhrkoff at the scene, but they were unable to revive him. 

Lively informed Master Trooper Adam Edward  that Duhrkoff became unresponsive just before losing control of the vehicle. She reportedly had observed that he was not acting normal and had a blank stare. 

" It was at that time that the vehicle began to drift to the south, traveling through the grassy median, and across both eastbound lanes of Interstate 70," Ames said.

An autopsy is scheduled for tomorrow morning in Terre Haute.

Troopers from the Putnamville State Police Post, Posey Township Fire Department, Star Ambulance Service and Clay County Coroner's Office assisted at the scene.