Crews investigated a fatal crash near Milford Monday evening, Jan. 25. (Photo by Amanda McFarland)

By 1ST SGT. CHAD HILL
Kosciusko County FACT Team

MILFORD — The Kosciusko County FACT Team is currently investigating a traffic fatality that claimed the life of a Syracuse man in northern Kosciusko County last night.

Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to a 911 call at 9:05 p.m. Monday of a single-vehicle crash located near the intersection of Hasse Court and CR 1000N.

Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department Corporal Travis Shively arrived and located a white 1997 Pontiac Grand Am that had left the roadway and impacted a tree. Kosciusko County Coroner Tony Ciriello was immediately summoned to the scene, where he determined the driver, identified as Ronnie S. Zentz, 44, to be deceased from blunt force trauma.

Kosciusko County FACT members stated that a preliminary investigation into the crash has determined that Zentz had been traveling eastbound on CR 1000N. Officers stated that it appeared from scene evidence that Zentz’s vehicle slid as it entered into a curve and traveled off the roadway surface, striking a tree.

Kosciusko County officials stated that the crash is still under investigation. Kosciusko County FACT members were assisted at the scene by the Milford Fire Department, Syracuse Police Department, Lutheran Kosciusko EMS, the Indiana State Police and the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department.