Indiana

Motorcycle Crash Kills Couple on Memorial Ride for Son

An Indiana couple was killed in a motorcycle crash Saturday during a memorial ride for their son, as their younger child rode behind them.

Travis and Suzanne Setser, of Scipio, Indiana, a town about 60 miles southeast of Indianapolis, were riding with their son Christian in rural Bartholomew County when the crash occurred, WTHR reports.

As they approached a stop sign, police said the bike on which Travis and Suzanne were riding pulled into the intersection and the path of a pickup truck, according to WTHR.

The 38-year-old driver of the truck swerved, but couldn’t avoid the motorcycle, the sheriff’s department told WTHR.

Travis was killed instantly, while Suzanne was flown to an Indianapolis hospital where she later died.

The couple's 19-year-old son Christian was on a motorcycle behind them as the crash occurred and witnessed the entire incident, WTHR reports.

The family had just finished a memorial ride in honor of Suzanne's oldest son Clayton, according to WTHR, who recently died from a drug overdose.

They decided to keep riding after the memorial because it was Suzanne’s birthday, according to WTHR.

"He was explaining to us that he had just gone through this loss with his brother," Julie Rotert, who saw the crash from her front porch and called 911, told WTHR.

"They'd just buried his brother. His brother passed away two weeks prior and he said, 'I can't do this again,'" she continued. "I just pictured one of my kids, so I just sat next to him and held him and cried. I cried with him."

It was not immediately clear if any charges would be filed in the incident, and the crash remains under investigation.

A GoFundMe to help cover costs for Clayton's funeral has raised more than $3,600 as of Tuesday afternoon. 

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