3 dead, including 7-year-old girl, in NW Indiana crash with dump truck

Three people were killed in a crash between an SUV and a dump truck on Tuesday in northwest Indiana.

Officers responded to the crash at 4:14 p.m. at 319 W. State Road 8 in Hebron, Indiana, according to the Porter County sheriff’s department.

A 2002 Mercury Mountaineer headed east drove into the opposite lane of traffic and into the path of a 2017 Mack dump truck, the sheriff’s department said. The truck driver was unable to avoid the crash and struck the SUV head on.

Investigators believe the SUV went into the westbound lane as the driver, identified as Amber Fitzgerald, 45, of North Judson, Indiana, tried to avoid a rear-end collision with stopped traffic in her own lane, the sheriff’s department said. Traffic had stalled as a driver waited to make a left turn into a driveway.

Bonnie Sowles, 68, and Hannah Cullen, 7, both of North Judson, were passengers in the Mercury and also died in the crash, authorities said. A fourth passenger, a 15-year-old North Judson girl, was airlifted to a hospital.

The driver of the Mack truck, a 59-year-old Crown Point man, was not injured, authorities said.

The crash remained under investigation Tuesday night.