Motorcyclist, passenger killed in Valparaiso crash

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Indiana Route 130 and Froberg Road in Valparaiso, Indiana. | Google Earth

A man and woman were killed in a motorcycle crash Sunday afternoon in northwest Indiana.

Nicholas Branham, 36, was driving a motorcycle eastbound about 4 p.m. on Indiana Route 130 approaching Froberg Road in Valparaiso, Indiana, according to a statement from the Porter County Coroner’s Office.

As the bike approached Froberg, a white Cadillac Escalade was crossing the intersection heading south on Froberg, the coroner’s office said. To avoid hitting the Escalade, Branham laid the motorcycle down.

His passenger, 26-year-old Jaclyn Nauracy, suffered blunt-force injuries and was dead at the scene, according to the coroner’s office. She lived in Scererville, Indiana.

Branham, who lived in Valparaiso, was taken to Porter Regional Hospital in Portage, Indiana, where he was pronounced dead at 4:33 p.m., the coroner’s office said.

The driver of the Escalade was not injured, authorities said. The coroner’s office plans to preform an autopsy on Branham and run routine toxicology tests.

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