Republican U.S. Rep. Jackie Walorski of Indiana Killed Wednesday in Car Accident
20:21 GMT 03.08.2022 (Updated: 09:42 GMT 20.06.2023)
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Indiana Republican Representative Jackie Walorski was killed in a car crash on Wednesday. The 58-year-old was just two weeks away from celebrating her 59th birthday when she and three others died in a car crash at around 12:39 p.m.
The accident occurred at the intersection of State Road 19 and State Road 119, north of Nappanee, Indiana. According to the Elkhart County Sheriff's Office, a vehicle was traveling northbound when it crossed into the opposite lane, colliding head-on with a southbound SUV in which Walorski, Zachery Potts, 27, and Emma Thomson, 28, were killed. The occupant of the northbound vehicle was 56-year-old Edith Schmuker, a Nappanee resident pronounced dead at the scene.
The former Indiana state lawmaker was a member of the Republican party and represented Indiana's 21st district from 2005 to 2010 and began representing Indiana's 2nd congressional district from 2012 until the time of her death.
"I'm shocked and saddened to hear of the tragic death of Congresswoman Jackie Walorski. My thoughts and prayers are with her family and the other victims of this terrible crash. Though we came from very different places politically, she was always prepared to work together where there was common ground, always decent and straightforward, and she cared deeply about her work and her constituents," tweeted U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg.
Former Vice President and the former Governor of Indiana, Mike Pence, also tweeted his sympathies for the Indiana lawmaker.
.@KarenPence and I are heartbroken by the tragic passing of our dear friend Rep. Jackie Walorski. She served Indiana in the Statehouse and the Congress with integrity and principle for nearly two decades and will be deeply missed.
— Mike Pence (@Mike_Pence) August 3, 2022
The Elkhart County Coroner's Office as well as the Sheriff's Office are currently investigating the accident.
It is with a heavy heart that I am sharing this statement from the Office of Congresswoman Jackie Walorski. pic.twitter.com/UEPoKBDf5N
— Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) August 3, 2022
Walorski is survived by her spouse Dean Swihart, whom she married in 1995.
