Wife killed, husband seriously hurt in UTV rollover crash

 FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) A utility vehicle rollover crash has killed one person and seriously hurt another on farmland west of Fort Wayne.

Crews were called around 9:30 a.m. Tuesday to a farm in the 7600 block of West Washington Center Road, near O’Day Road. Dispatchers confirmed that one person was killed and another person was seriously hurt when an UTV rolled over into a ditch on the property.

Allen County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Steve Stone said the victims and wreckage were spotted by a neighbor who had been operating a combine nearby early Tuesday. Stone said the neighbor rushed over and found the UTV atop the woman, then found the man on the bank of the ditch several feet away.

The woman, an 87 year old, was pronounced dead at the scene. Her husband, also 89, was airlifted away in serious condition.

It’s not clear when the crash happened. Stone said investigators believe the couple had been spraying weeds at some point Monday morning when it tipped near the ditch and rolled. The woman was ejected in the process and the UTV rolled atop her, Stone said. She was found in two inches of water, nearly six feet down the ditch.

The man crawled up the ditch and was found at the bank, Stone said.

The ditch was located in the back of the farm, about an 1/8 mile off the road.

The crash remains under investigation, Stone said.