Fatality on 26

A rural Fort Recovery man died Friday when the truck he was driving went off of Indiana 26, struck a utility pole and flipped.

Gregory C. McEldowney, 51, was pronounced dead at the scene of the incident on the north side of the highway between county roads 500 East and 600 East.

According to a Jay County Sheriff’s Office report, McEldowney was traveling east on Indiana 26 about 11:40 a.m. Friday when the 2007 Chevrolet Silverado he was driving crossed the center line and went off the north side of the road for an unknown reason. It struck a culvert, became airborne and started to flip. The top of the truck then struck a Jay County REMC utility pole, snapping it, and the vehicle continued to roll several times before coming to a stop upside down 88 feet north of the highway. 

McEldowney was ejected from the vehicle, with his body ending up under the bed of the pickup truck. 

He suffered injuries to his entire body, with internal injuries listed as the most severe.

The vehicle is owned by the Mark P. McEldowney Trust, 567 Mercer Darke County Line Road, Fort Recovery. Damage to the truck was estimated at $25,000 to $50,000. It was towed.