Trailer detaches from tractor, struck by vehicle, killing 2

WANATAH, Ind. (AP) — A semi’s trailer separated from its tractor and was struck by a passenger vehicle, killing a northwestern Indiana woman and her son and injuring a second child Tuesday, police said.

The crash killed Angela J. Oehmen, 36, of Wanatah, and 14-year-old Joseph I. Oehmen, the LaPorte County Sheriff’s Office said.

“A second juvenile, who was an occupant of the vehicle, sustained an upper body injury. That juvenile was transported to an area hospital for treatment,” the sheriff’s office said.

The driver of the semitrailer, a 47-year-old Fulton, Indiana, man, was not injured, police said.

The semitrailer was pulling onto U.S. 30 from a truck stop near the town of Wanatah shortly before 8 a.m. stop when the trailer separated from the tractor, police said.

The passenger vehicle struck the rear of the trailer, police said.