Obituary - Larry Collins

Lawrence M. "Larry" Collins, 62, died October 3 in his niece Sarah Walter's car, which was stopped along 126th Street in Carmel at the time. Walter, who has been arrested and charged with Collins' murder, was driving her uncle home from an appointment with his podiatrist. In a statement issued through her attorney, Walter said, "I know it's the time of year when it's hard to adjust the air in the car. You turn on the vent and it gets chilly or steams up the windows, but you put on the heat to clear the windows and it gets too warm." Her statement continued, "But Uncle Larry just kept fiddling and fiddling and fiddling, even after I told him over and over to leave it alone or just turn it off. But no, he kept right on fiddling and fiddling. Well, I don't quite remember what happened after that." Police were initially reluctant to call the incident a murder, based on their disbelief that a fully-grown, overweight man could fit entirely between the slats of the dashboard vent on a PT Cruiser. Medical examiners later verified, though, that Collins' whole body had indeed been stuffed in there. "I can't imagine the force that must have taken," said John Kramer, one of the investigators charged with recovering the body. "It's like one of those tornado putting a straw through a telephone pole kind of things. Somebody would have really had to snap to do that."

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Interstate Crash Kills 4 People's Hopes of Getting to Work on Time

FISHERS - A crash on I-69 this morning is believed to have killed as many as four people's chances of getting to work before their scheduled start time.

A 26-year-old woman's hopes of remaining punctual were killed instantly when her 2005 Chevy Oveo slammed into the back of a stationary SUV, whose driver and two passengers' morning itinerary was later pronounced dead on arrival.

According to reports, the general manager at Crown-Smith Insurance is believed to be distraught following the incident, which has deprived him and his business of "one of our best workers on a day when we really needed her. Oh well."

Additionally, the management team at AF Services - where the passengers of the SUV routinely carpooled to five days a week, have been notified of the tragedy.

Crash Kills IndyCar Racer, Leaves Car in Critical Condition

LAS VEGAS - The world of racing is left to reflect after a multiple-car crash in Las Vegas killed famed driver Dan Wheldon and left his racing vehicle in a "serious condition." 

The accident involved 15 other drivers, whose vehicles are said to be in stable conditions. 

Former 2-time Indy 500 winner Wheldon was later pronounced dead in hospital, while his racing car is fighting for its life after suffering multiple injuries, including 3 ruptured tires, a dislocated steering wheel and a damaged suspension. IndyCar servicemen have transported it to an engineering plant, where its progress is "being monitored". 

"The car is undergoing intensive treatment at this time", said mechanic David Ward. "We are preparing to perform a battery transplant as well as a crucial operation on its engine to reduce internal petrol loss". 

Members of the Bryan Herta Autosport team, to whom Wheldon was signed, have chosen to stay by the vehicle's side, while the team's distraught sponsors have been told to prepare for the possibility that the car may never fully recover from its horrific injuries. 


In the event of its death, the car is expected to be buried at a local scrap yard before returning to life 2 years later in the form of a BMW 760li.

Image credit: fair use.