Victims identified in Thursday fatal crash

Personnel see off a medical helicopter from Air Evac Lifeteam at the scene of the recent fatal crash outside Clinton Falls. While the passenger was airlifted, the driver was killed in the incident.

Banner Graphic/BRAND SELVIA

CLINTON FALLS — A driver who was killed, along with her passenger who was airlifted, have been identified in the rollover that occurred near Clinton Falls last Thursday.

First responders were dispatched at about 2:25 p.m. to 4296 N. CR 625 West after Good Samaritans heard the wreck and called it in. They were tending to a passenger as Deputy Kyle Lee and Putnam County EMS arrived on the scene to the vehicle on its driver’s side.

The Good Samaritans were able to bust the windshield and pulled the passenger, Louis Ridgway III, 74, from the vehicle prior to Lee’s and medics’ arrival. However, the driver, Betty Ridgway, 72, was deceased. Both were of Punta Gorda, Fla.

Personnel from the Greencastle Fire Department and Bainbridge, Clinton Township and Russellville volunteers also responded to the incident.

After medics did triage, the passenger, who was conscious and alert, was flown via Air Evac Lifeteam. Meanwhile, the Putnam County Coroner’s Office arrived at the scene, while Adams Towing came to pick up the vehicle.

According to a PCSO report filed by Lee, the passenger confirmed that no other vehicles were involved, and remembered that the driver accelerated through the curve before the vehicle left the roadway.

Per an autopsy conducted Saturday, Coroner Jon Myers told the Banner Graphic that the driver’s cause of death was a broken neck. The incident was determined not to be from a medical emergency.