Nappanee teen dies while helping tow a vehicle from a ditch.

A Nappanee teen dies while helping tow a vehicle from a ditch this past weekend. The LaGrange County Sheriff’s Department reports a car driven by Jon Helmuth, 16, slid off the road on the east side of S.R. 5 near C.R. 750 S. A truck driven by Jacob Nickerson, 32, of Warsaw was attempting to pull Helmuth from the ditch and attached a tow strap. A third vehicle, driven by Stan Trusty, 40, was traveling south on S.R. 5 approaching the two vehicles. Officials say Trusty did not see the tow strap across the roadway between the two vehicles due to the inclement weather.
Deputies say 16-year-old Benjamin Lehman of Nappanee, who was a passenger in the vehicle that had crashed in to the ditch, had left the vehicle and was standing at the tow strap in or near the road.
Lehman was struck and pronounced dead at the scene by the LaGrange County Coroner. The accident remains under investigation. State and local officials are working together in the post-accident investigation.