Couple, 3 kids killed in fiery Indiana crash

[March 19, 2010]  CROWN POINT, Ind. (AP) -- An Indiana couple and their three children died Friday when their pickup truck caught fire after being crushed between two semitrailers, police said.

Traffic along Interstate 65 in northwestern Indiana had slowed about 4 a.m. as a vehicle was towed from the highway and one semitrailer could not stop quickly enough after coming over a hill, state police said. That semitrailer slammed the family's pickup truck into another semitrailer. Brian W. Workman, 33, Joanna L. Workman, 31, and their children - 13-year-old Ashley, 8-year-old Tyler and 1-year-old Ryan - were killed. The semitrailer drivers were not injured. Linda McCullough, who has lived a few houses away from the Workmans in Hobart for several years, recalled Ashley and Tyler visiting her when she would sit out in her yard. "We have a quiet neighborhood here and we've all lived here for quite a while, so we're all pretty much in shock," McCullough said. "Their house is kind of a gathering place for the children. They had a pool in the back yard, and I could see the children with their towels going up there all the time." Police closed the highway about 15 miles south of Gary for more than six hours to clean up the scorched debris. [Associated Press] Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.