Amish Couple Killed: Hit By Dump Truck That “Drifted” Into Buggy Lane

Just an awful story out of LaGrange County, Indiana. A dump truck “drifted” off the road and onto the shoulder, hitting a buggy driven by an Amish couple in their 70s – killing both of them.

Of note: what’s being called “the shoulder” here appears to be a full-fledged, wide “buggy lane” in the area where the incident happened (more on that below). From the report by WANE:

SHIPSHEWANA, Ind. (WANE) Two people died Tuesday afternoon after the horse-drawn buggy they were riding in was hit by a dump truck in LaGrange County.

According to a news release from Indiana State Police, the Amish buggy was on the shoulder heading east on U.S. 20 near CR 1000 West just west of Shipshewana just after 3 p.m., when the dump truck drifted off the road and hit the buggy.

Investigators haven’t determined why the 20-year-old driver veered off the road. The only two people in the buggy were pronounced dead at the scene.

They’ve been identified by the LaGrange County Coroner’s Office as Marvin Shrock, 75, of Shipshewana, and Ruby Shrock, 74, also of Shipshewana.

The news release didn’t not indicate if the two were married or otherwise related.

The Schrocks’ families have been notified, and the 20-year-old driver has been identified as Gael Reyes of Sturgis, Michigan.

The Road Where This Happened Has “Buggy Lanes”

This wreck happened just about a mile outside of Shipshewana, on US 20, one of a few main highways passing through this Amish settlement. It is a “highway”, but it’s not an interstate or anything like that.

As you can see in the screenshot below from Google Maps, in the area where the accident happened, it’s a two-lane road.

The crossroad visible just ahead in this next shot is CR 1000 West. The vantage point here is traveling the same direction the couple was heading, east (the street view appears from the opposite lane, likely because the Google car recording these images was traveling west, and it captured this view to its rear with its 360-degree camera).

This is a road which has regular turnoffs, driveways, side roads, etc. It’s frequently used by the Amish, and you can see there is a substantial shoulder. When we compare it with the car’s width, it’s clearly wide enough that it might be called a “buggy lane”.

Here’s another Google Maps image showing an Amish buggy using that lane, also on US-20, just a bit further down the road right outside Shipshewana. You can see there is substantial room for the buggy – it’s a proper full-sized lane:

There is no explanation as to why the dump truck “drifted”. We don’t know if it’s inattention, distraction, a medical situation, or what. Those are all possible, I suppose. But unlike another wreck which happened yesterday, police do not believe drugs or alcohol were involved.

From this initial report, it sounds like a case where the buggy was in the lane it was supposed to be in…and it was hit by a dump truck which was traveling where it shouldn’t have been. An investigation is ongoing by the Indiana State Police Critical Incident Reconstruction Team.

Prayers for this couple, their family and community. Given their age, they likely have many dozens of immediate relatives who will face this loss.

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