Wrong-way truck left scene of woman set on fire before fatal I-65 crash

Police are investigating a connection between a fatal wrong-way crash on Interstate 65 and a woman who was doused in gasoline and lit on fire.

Franklin police were dispatched to a residence at 12:45 p.m. in the 100 block of Highland Avenue on a report of a disturbance. When officers arrived, they found a woman, identified as Amy Keever, who had received serious burns over a large portion of her body, police said.

At least one witness at the scene told investigators that Amy Keever had said her estranged husband, Donn Keever, threw gas on her and lit her on fire.

Police said before they arrived at the Highland Avenue location, Donn Keever was said to have left the scene in his 2001 Red Dodge pickup truck with license plate number WKM233.

Fifteen minutes later, Indiana state troopers were dispatched to a crash scene at I-65 mile marker 99.7 mm, just north of the Greenwood Main Street Exit, around 1 p.m., and found the same 2001 Red Dodge pickup engulfed in flames, said Lt. Kerry Atwood, operations commander for the Franklin Police Department.

Atwood could not confirm if the driver of the pickup was Donn Keever, as the Johnson County Coroner's Office is still working to confirm identity of the remains, he told The Indianapolis Star in a telephone conversation.

Investigators did say the truck is registered to the suspect.

State Police officials said the driver of the Dodge was traveling southbound in the northbound lane of I-65 when it collided with a semi-trailer tractor.

Initial investigation has revealed that the Dodge was traveling at a high rate of speed southbound in the left lane. Police said a Freightliner semi-tractor trailer, operated by Toby Klar, 50, of Nashville, Tenn., was traveling northbound in the middle lane. The Dodge suddenly turned into the path of the semi-tractor trailer causing a head-on crash and the semi-tractor trailer to flip onto the passenger side.

Klar was not injured, police said.

After striking the Freightliner, police said the Dodge continued southbound and was struck again by a Ford SUV before coming to rest against the concrete barrier wall and erupting into flames. The driver of the Ford was transported to Methodist Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

The driver of the Dodge was pronounced deceased at the scene by the Johnson County Coroner’s Office. The identity of the deceased will be released when positive identification has been made by the Johnson County Coroner’s Office and the family notified, police said.

Amy Keever was transported to Eskenazi Hospital for treatment, said Atwood, but the extent of her injuries is unknown at this time.

This story will be updated.

Call Star reporter Michael Anthony Adams at (317) 444-6123. Follow him on Twitter: @MichaelAdams317.