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Fatal Crash Leads to Crime Scene

I-94 Fatal Crash 2012-08-16
[Photo provided -- The Indiana State Police]

A wrong-way crash that killed two people on Interstate 94 near Michigan City early Thursday led police to a crime scene about two-hundred miles away, in Belleville, Michigan, which is just off I-94, southwest of Detroit.  Police are now trying to determine whether 38-year-old Michael Vanderlinden committed suicide by driving the wrong direction on the highway, instantly killing 45-year-old Juan Nelson, Jr., of Portage when their cars collided head-on around 1am. Troopers say the impact ignited a fire that engulfed both cars. LaPorte County Coroner John Sullivan says both men were pronounced dead at the scene.  When police went to notify Vanderlinden's wife of the crash, they say they found her and her two sons, ages 7 and 4, dead at their home.

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