Muncie woman dies in I-65 crash near Franklin

A Muncie woman died in a Saturday morning crash on Interstate 65 near Franklin that involved four vehicles.

55 year old Christine Lykins of Muncie was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash, in the southbound lanes near the Franklin exit at just before noon Saturday, according to Indiana State Police troopers.

Altogether four people involved in the crash were taken to area hospitals.

Troopers say that traffic was backed up in the area due to road construction, when Lykins’ car rear-ended a pickup, pushing that truck ino an SUV. No one in her car is believed to have been wearing seatbelts, and a 19-year-old and 20-year-old in her back seat were thrown from the vehicle. The drivers of the truck and SUV were also injured.

A fourth vehicle involved in the crash was a stopped semi that may have been bumped into also during the chain-reaction crash, but that driver left the scene, troopers say. Investigators are trying to locate the semi.

The southbound lanes of I-65 were closed for more than two hours while the crash was investigated.