UPDATE (August 14, 2023):
STEUBEN CO., Ind. (ADAMS) – The Steuben County Coroner has identified an Angola man killed in a fiery crash earlier this month. Officials now say that Blayne Lee Marple, 23, was killed in the crash on Fox Lake Road on August 2, 2023.
The Steuben County Sheriff’s Office released the following:
On 08/11/2023, the Steuben County Sheriff’s Office was notified by the Steuben County Coroner’s Office that the driver involved in the fatal crash that occurred back on 08/02/2023 on Fox Lak Rd had been positively identified through DNA analysis, and next of kin notified. The deceased driver was identified as 23-year-ol Blayne Lee Marple of Angola. According to the Coroner’s Office, Marple died as a result of blunt force trauma and thermal injuries.
ORIGINAL STORY (August 3, 2023):
STEUBEN CO., Ind. (ADAMS) – The driver of a vehicle that crashed and caught fire early Wednesday morning in Steuben County has died.
The car was found fully engulfed by police in rural Pleasant Township shortly after midnight after the driver was speeding and missed a curve, hitting a pole.
His identity has not yet been released. The crash happened near the Fox Lake Public Access Site.
The Steuben County Sheriff’s Office released the following:
On 08/02/2023 just after midnight, Steuben County Sheriff’s deputies responded to Fox Lake Rd in the area of the Fox Lake Public Access Site in Steuben County’s rural Pleasant Township on a report of a single vehicle crash with the vehicle on fire. The initial arriving deputies located a passenger car fully engulfed in flames near a utility pole. The vehicle also had extensive driver side damage indicating that it had collided with the utility pole prior to catching fire.
Initial crash scene investigation determined that a red 2009 Mazda RX8 passenger car was traveling westbound on Fox Lake Rd at what appeared to be high rate of speed. As the driver was negotiating a curve in the roadway just east of the Fox Lake Public Access Site, the vehicle went off of the north side of the roadway causing the driver to overcorrect back to the south. The vehicle then began to yaw and slid out of control before colliding with a utility pole and catching fire.
A deceased male driver was located inside the vehicle once the fire was extinguished. The driver’s name is being withheld pending positive identification and notification of next of kin by the Steuben County Coroner’s Office. The accident remains under investigation by the Sheriff’s Office. Assisting the Sheriff’s Office at the scene were the Angola Police, Angola Fire Department, and the Steuben County Coroner’s Office.
