A 14-year-old who had reportedly run away from home in a stolen vehicle two weeks ago was identified Thursday as the teen who recently died in a fatal crash after a police pursuit in Steuben and DeKalb counties.
The Ashley-Hudson Police Department posted on its Facebook page information about the April 19 pursuit that reached speeds of 90 mph and the crash. It said the teen, who was driving a stolen vehicle, turned into a yard and struck a tree, which caused the vehicle to burst into flames.
The teen couldn’t be rescued because of the extreme heat, the post said.
The police department said the 14-year-old was identified by DNA, but the post didn’t include his name.
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Marissa Fairchild posted on Facebook that her son, Jaden Bowman, died in the crash. He was reported missing the same day as the crash and was last seen about three hours prior to the police pursuit.
His family continued to search for him before he was identified with DNA on Wednesday, according to Fairchild’s Facebook posts. A GoFundMe online fundraiser that was originally set up to support the search has been changed to raise funds for Bowman’s funeral.
The death investigation has been turned over to the Steuben County coroner’s office. Indiana State Police have been called in to conduct a crash reconstruction, and the Steuben County sheriff’s office has been asked to review the officers’ actions to determine whether there were any policy or state-law violations, the police department said.
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