Authorities are not yet ready to release the name of the driver of a vehicle who died in a Monday morning accident on U.S. 35 and John Street in Knox. Notification of the next of kin has to be made before that information can be released.
Starke County Coroner Kris Rannells and Forensic Pathologist Dr. Alan Griggs performed an autopsy Tuesday on the victim in Lafayette and confirmed that the driver of the passenger vehicle had a heart attack prior to the accident and died as a result of injuries sustained in the accident. The driver suffered a torn aorta.
The woman who was a passenger in the vehicle has been identified as Mary Hightower, 63, of Hamlet. She was badly injured in the accident and remains hospitalized. The driver of the minivan involved in the accident was Patrick McCarty, 39, of Knox who received minor injuries in the accident.
The accident remains under investigation by the Knox City Police Department.
