The vehicle that Rep. Jackie Walorski (R-Ind.) was traveling in on Aug. 3 crossed the center line of the road “for reasons that are unknown at this time,” causing a crash resulting in four deaths, including Walorski’s, local authorities said, reversing a statement made a day prior about the incident.
Initially on Aug. 3, the Elkhart County Sheriff’s Office said it was the other vehicle, driven by Edith Schmucker, that had crossed the center line and crashed head-on into the SUV occupied by Walorski, Emma Thomson, and Zachery Potts. Sheriff’s officials said Potts, 27, was driving.
“The continuing investigation has located eyewitness and video evidence,” sheriff’s officials said. “Both confirm that the maroon Buick LeSabre driven by Edith Schmucker, 56, Nappanee, Indiana, was southbound on SR 19 south of SR 119 and the silver Toyota RAV 4, driven by Zachery Potts, 27, Mishawaka, Indiana, was northbound on SR 19.”
The RAV 4 with Walorski, Potts, and Thomson “crossed the centerline for reasons that are unknown at this time” before the two cars crashed, according to the office.
“All occupants of both vehicles were confirmed to have been wearing seatbelts and airbags did deploy,” it stated.
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Schmucker, Potts, and Thomson also died as a result of the crash. The Republican lawmaker’s death was initially confirmed by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who said he obtained information from her husband, Dean, that she was killed in the incident on the afternoon of Aug. 3.Potts was a member of the St. Joseph County Republican Party, as well as the Indiana Republican State Committee. Thomson served as Walorski’s communications director.
Prior to her election in 2012 to the House, Walorski served three terms in the Indiana Legislature, spent four years as a missionary in Romania along with her husband, and worked as a television news reporter in South Bend, Indiana, according to a biography posted on her congressional website.
Walorski was a lifelong resident of Indiana, according to her official biography. She served on the House Ways and Means Committee and was the top Republican on the subcommittee on worker and family support.
Both Republicans and Democrats issued statements mourning her death, including President Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).
Biden, a Democrat, said he and Walorski “may have represented different parties and disagreed on many issues, but she was respected by members of both parties for her work on the House Ways and Means Committee on which she served.”
