According to the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office, deputies and emergency crews were dispatched at 11:31 a.m. Thursday to a serious collision on State Road 15, roughly a quarter mile north of Waubee Road in Van Buren Township. When first responders arrived, they found two vehicles involved in a violent head-on crash: a Chevy Silverado driven by 68-year-old Dale E. Wert of Goshen, and a Hyundai Accent driven by 19-year-old Sarah Mischke of Milford.

The exact cause of the collision remains undetermined, and investigators are working to piece together what led the two vehicles into each other’s path.

Wert suffered critical injuries and was transported by Lutheran EMS to Lutheran Hospital in Fort Wayne. Despite extensive medical efforts, he later passed away from his injuries.

Mischke was pronounced dead at the scene by Kosciusko County Coroner Tyler Huffer due to the severity of the injuries she sustained in the crash.

Multiple agencies responded to the incident, including the Milford Police Department, Milford Fire Department, Plain Township Fire Department, Lutheran EMS, Kosciusko County Coroner’s Office, the county 911 dispatch center, and Raven’s Wecker Service.

The Kosciusko County FACT Team continues to investigate the circumstances of the fatal crash.