Willshire woman killed in county car crash

Van Wert independent

WILLSHIRE — One person was killed and another life-flighted to a Fort Wayne, Indiana, hospital as a result of a one-car accident that occurred Sunday evening on Ohio 81.

Van Wert County Sheriff Thomas M. Riggenbach stated that his office received a 9-1-1 call at 7:26 p.m. Sunday about a possible two-car accident on Ohio 81, between Willshire Eastern and Harrison Willshire roads.

When deputies arrived, they found the accident was s single-vehicle crash involving a 2012 Lincoln MKZ driven by Tim Dellinger, 56, of Willshire. According to evidence at the crash scene, deputies said the Dellinger vehicle apparently veered off the right side of the highway and Dellinger then apparently overcorrected, sending the Lincoln crashing into a ditch and up into a field, where it came to rest. The vehicle sustained heavy damage.

A passenger in the vehicle, Christina Dellinger, 54, also of Willshire, sustained fatal injuries as a result of the crash and was pronounced dead at the scene. She was transported to Van Wert County Hospital by a Van Wert Fire Department EMS squad. Tim Dellinger was taken to Lutheran Hospital of Indiana in Fort Wayne by Lutheran Air medical transport.

Neither the driver nor the passenger were believed to be wearing seatbelts at the time of the accident, according to the sheriff’s office. Sheriff Riggenbach said alcohol was believed to be a factor in the crash, which remains under investigation at this time.

Assisting the sheriff’s office at the scene, in addition to Lutheran Air and the VWFD EMS unit, were the Wren Fire and EMS Department, Willshire Fire Department, the Van Wert Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol, and Straightline Body and Paint.