Fishers man among 3 killed by wrong-way driver in Indiana

A man driving the wrong way on I-69 caused a three-vehicle collision Friday night in Pike County that killed three people, including a pregnant woman.

Jason Lowe, 44, Fishers, was among those killed in the crash.

The driver who caused the crash, who police say may have been under the influence of drugs, survived with minor injuries.

Indiana State Police said Brian Paquette, 48, of Newport News, Va., drove his 1995 Chevrolet Tahoe the wrong way in both the northbound and southbound lanes of the highway before the fatal crash.

According to State Police, a motorist flagged down State Trooper Hunter Manning at about 9:30 p.m. at the mile marker 42 to alert him that a motorist was driving northbound in the southbound lanes.

Manning, of the Evansville barracks, drove northbound, located the Tahoe headed northbound in the southbound lane at about mile marker 48, and drove into the median to get the wrong-way driver's attention.

Paquette also entered the median, State Police said, and made a U-turn before proceeding south on the highway in the northbound lanes.

Trooper Manning then entered the southbound lanes of I-69, still attempting to get the driver's attention, but the Tahoe struck two other cars moments later near the 49 mile marker.

Stephanie Molinet, 22, of Elberfield, was driving her 2014 Ford Focus northbound in the passing lane of I-69 when the two vehicles struck head-on. The impact cause Paquette's vehicle to spin around before striking a third vehicle, a 2011 GMC Terrain, that was headed northbound in the driving lane, State Police said.

Lowe, the driver of the GMC Terrain, was pronounced dead at the scene by emergency medical workers. A passenger, Samantha Lowe, 46, also of Fishers, was taken to Deaconess Hospital for treatment of injuries that were not life-threatening.

Autumn Kapperman, 21, of Boonville, a front-seat passenger in Molinet's vehicle, died at the scene, State Police said. She was five months pregnant.

Molinet was taken to Deaconess, where she died early Saturday morning of her injuries.

Paquette is being treated at Deaconess for his injuries which police said weren't life-threatening.

The initial investigation indicates drugs may have been a factor in the crash, State Police said.

All three vehicles were totaled in the crash and the northbound lanes of I-69 were closed for about three hours.

The investigation is ongoing.

Call IndyStar digital producer Dwight Adams at (317) 444-6532. Follow him on Twitter: @hdwightadams.

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