Sullivan County mother and son die after tornado picked up house, slammed it to the ground
Officials have released the names of all three people were killed in Sullivan County by a EF3 tornado that ravaged the small town Friday night with peak winds of 155 mph.
The Sullivan County victims are among at least five people who died in Indiana during the severe storms.
One of the people killed was Shane Goodman, 47, who lived just outside Sullivan city limits, Sullivan Mayor Clint Lamb told media Sunday afternoon. In the tightknit town of less than 5,000, the Goodman family was well-known, Lamb said.
Goodman was trapped in rubble under his home right outside Sullivan city limits at St. Claire Street, Sullivan County coroner Joe Coffman told IndyStar Sunday afternoon. He leaves behind his wife.
The two other victims are Susan Kay Horton, 61, and Thomas Randall Horton, 38, according to Coffman.
The cause of death for all three victims was blunt force trauma.
Coffman said he believes the Hortons were in their house when it was picked up by the tornado into the air, carried through the air, and crashed into the ground. Their home was on the 800 block of South County Road 250 West in Sullivan.
“They were killed by the forces of their house crashing back to the ground,” he told IndyStar Sunday afternoon.
Rossville couple killed camping at McCormick's
McCormick's Creek State Park and its campgrounds were flattened by severe storms Friday night into Saturday morning.
A husband and wife from Rossville were found dead following a search Saturday. The victims have been identified as Brett Kincaid, 53, and Wendy Kincaid, 47.
As the severe weather became imminent, officials told campers in the park to take shelter in the area. The Rossville couple were located in their camper, Capt. Jet Quillen of DNR Law Enforcement told IndyStar Saturday morning, indicating they had not taken cover in park buildings when the storm hit.
"We don’t know right now why (the two victims) were still there," Quillen said. "When the weather hit, a majority of the other campers in the area retreated to cover to different areas of the properties. We don’t know as of right now why the victims were not."
Carmen Law, a visitor at Canyon Inn, said she and her family were among campers who took shelter at the park. They arrived Friday at McCormick’s Creek from New Palestine camp. The family was expecting wind during their weekend stay, she said, but nothing like the storm that hit. Law said she and other visitors were told to go into a bathhouse at the park to take shelter. She could hear the storm rush through, she said. The electricity flickered and eventually went out completely, hail pouring down.
She said the energy was surprisingly calm while waiting in the shelter.
“When it did hit, there was a lot of tears and fear, but just sitting there, I think, it was very calm,” she said.
She said she remembered trekking through a maze of tree branches and trunks to get back to the campers. Law estimated about 98% of the RVs at the park were destroyed, having been tossed by the wind or crushed by trees.
Law, her family and her dog, Duke, made it out safely, but the trailer they brought for camping was destroyed in the storm. The family planned to salvage whatever they could from their own camper.
More: Rossville couple killed at McCormick’s Creek State Park, raising Indiana death toll to 5
The Bloomington Herald-Times contributed to this story.
Contact IndyStar reporter Ko Lyn Cheang at kcheang@indystar.com or 317-903-7071. Follow her on Twitter: @kolyn_cheang.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Sullivan County Indiana tornado: Three dead, victims identified
