Taylor University - 2006 Van Accident

2006 Van Accident

On April 26, 2006, Taylor received national attention when a University van was involved in a fatal accident outside Marion, Indiana, while traveling between the Fort Wayne and Upland campuses. The accident happened when a northbound semi-trailer truck driver fell asleep at the wheel, crossed the median and struck the southbound passenger van on I-69. Four students and one staff member were killed, and three staff members and one student were injured. The accident occurred two days before current University president Eugene Habecker's inauguration ceremony. The truck driver was convicted of reckless, involuntary manslaughter and received a four-year prison sentence.

However, because the Grant County coroner and Taylor officials failed to positively identify all the victims, the incident later made international headlines when there was a shocking case of mistaken identity between two of the victims. Senior Laura Van Ryn, who died on the scene, was mistaken for surviving freshman Whitney Cerak. The Cerak (actually Van Ryn) funeral was conducted with a closed casket, and the mistake was not discovered until Cerak identified herself after waking up from a coma over a month later.

As a result of this incident, Indiana changed the procedure for identifying victims involved in accidents. Cerak graduated from Taylor on May 23, 2009, and the two families remain close. On April 26, 2008, the two year anniversary of the accident, the University dedicated the $2.4 million Memorial Prayer Chapel as a memorial to the victims: students Laurel Erb, Brad Larson, Betsy Smith and Laura Van Ryn, along with Taylor employee Monica Felver.