At 4:03 p.m. on Tuesday, September 27, 2022, Boone County Communications received a 911 call of a motor vehicle accident with entrapment on US 52 at the intersection of County Road 650 North in Boone County. Initial reports indicated that a van with multiple people trapped was involved in
addition to a backhoe with a person entrapped in it.
A Thorntown/ Sugar Creek Township Firefighter was just south of the crash, got to all patients quickly, and began first aid. The van contained six volleyball players from Lafayette going to a Sports Complex in Plainfield to play in a league game. The players are home schooled. The age ranges of
the van occupants range from 19 to 14 years of age. The driver, Sara Edwards, 19, from Lafayette, was transported to a local hospital for minor injuries. A juvenile passenger was flown to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The other passengers of the van were not injured. The
driver of the backhoe, Edward Shelley, 80, of Thorntown, was transported to a local hospital with serious injuries.
Preliminary investigation shows that the backhoe was crossing US 52 on CR 650 N traveling eastbound and was struck by the van that was traveling southbound on US 52.
The intersection of US 52 and County Road 650 North was closed for several hours as members of the Boone County Sheriff’s Office FACT team responded and investigated the crash. The crash is still under investigation. No drugs or alcohol are believed to be involved.