Rossville couple killed at McCormick’s Creek State Park, raising Indiana death toll to 5
Two more victims of the severe storms that rolled across Indiana late Friday were discovered Saturday at a southern Indiana state park, raising the Indiana death toll to at least five.
The bodies of a Rossville couple were located at the campground at McCormick’s Creek State Park, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources reported late Saturday night.
The victims have been identified as Brett Kincaid, 53, and Wendy Kincaid, 47, both of Rossville, Indiana.
More: Indiana, Midwest hit by severe storms. Here's what we know.
Late Friday night and early Saturday, severe storms ravaged McCormick’s Creek State Park in Owen County flattening trees causing serious damage to the campground.
Victims were unsheltered when storm hit, DNR said
As the severe weather became imminent, officials told campers in the park to take shelter in the area. The Rossville couple who were killed were located in their camper, Capt. Jet Quillen of DNR Law Enforcement told IndyStar Saturday morning, indicating they had not taken cover in park buildings when the storm hit.
Several of the people camping there sought shelter in one of the park's bathhouses, which Jack White of Owen County EMS said may have saved their lives as the campground area was "flattened."
"We don’t know right now why (the two victims) were still there," Quillen said. "When the weather hit, a majority of the other campers in the area retreated to cover to different areas of the properties. We don’t know as of right now why the victims were not."
At the time the storm hit, Quillen said, it was not possible to account for every person camping in the park. Park officials went out and found people they could to tell them to take shelter, he said.
"Unfortunately, there was no way to go through a checklist, you don’t know who was on property," he told IndyStar. The computer system holding the reservation list for campers in the park was downed in the power outage, making it more difficult to account for everyone.
Immediately following the storm, responders searched the area attempting to confirm everyone was able to reach safety, the Department of Natural Resources said in a media release.
Respondents were contacted by the couple's family members that they were still unaccounted for, at which point they began to search for them, Quillen said.
The Rossville woman's body was found approximately after 6 p.m Saturday, Quillen said, and the man's body found after that.
As of Saturday morning, everybody who was camping at McCormick's Creek State Park is accounted for, Quillen said. He said they were able to restore power to the computer reservation system.
This incident is under investigation and more information will be released as it becomes available, DNR said.
Three people were killed in Sullivan County from the overnight storm, according to Indiana State Police. Their names have not been released. The NWS has preliminarily rated the tornado that hit Sullivan County as an EF3.
Contact IndyStar reporter Ko Lyn Cheang at [email protected] or 317-903-7071. Follow her on Twitter: @kolyn_cheang.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Couple dead at McCormick's Creek State Park, storm toll hits 5
