On Wednesday afternoon, August 3, Indiana congresswoman Jackie Walorski was in a car accident that killed one person.
There were no survivors, and it’s not clear how bad their injuries were yet. At 12:32, the accident happened on SR 19 south of SR 119. Walorski was 58 years old and would turn 59 in just two weeks.
The Elkhart County Sheriff’s Office said that Walorski, 58, of Elkhart, Indiana, Zachery Potts, 27, of Mishawaka, Indiana, and Emma Thomson, 28, of Washington, DC, died in the two-car crash. Thomson was Walorski’s director of communications, and Potts was Walorski’s campaign manager before she became the district director for the House of Representatives in Indiana. Officials also said that Edith Schmucker, who was driving the car that hit Walorski’s car, was also dead. The police said that Schmucker’s car went to the left of the center line and hit a southbound SUV head-on, causing the fatal Indiana crash that killed four people in total. But there was no explanation for why her car went in the wrong direction.
What was Edith Schmucker?
Edith Schmucker, who is 56 years old and from Nappanee, Indiana, was driving the car that hit Warloski’s. She was from Warsaw and worked as a Personal Care Attendant (PCA) at Millers Senior Living Community on Clearvista Pl in Indianapolis. She went to and graduated from Warsaw High School in 1985. On Facebook, she kept her relationship status as “Single.” Even though her Facebook status says “Single,” she has named Tyler Lee Schmucker and Mikel D. Renze as her sons.
People who knew Schmucker wrote that she had a big heart and would do anything for anyone. Tamra Schmucker, who is Edith Schmucker’s niece, wrote, “I learned from you as a child, like how you would always run your fingers through my hair and tell me you loved me every time you saw me. We’ll see each other again.” The first person to say that Walorski had died was House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who tweeted, “With a heavy heart, I share this statement from the office of Congresswoman Jackie Walorski.” He went on, “This news is a complete disaster. Jackie was a close friend, a trusted advisor, and a model of honesty. All of her House colleagues looked up to and respected her. She always put everyone else first.