Investigators are trying to determine the cause of a two vehicle accident on Friday which claimed the life of a Valparaiso man.

The Porter County Sheriff’s Police has identified the victim as Richard M. Schroeder, 75.

According to police, at 10:36 a.m. Schroeder was southbound on Meridian Road in a Nissan Titan pickup truck when he crossed the center line and clipped the front end of a second vehicle westbound on C.R. 700N and stopped for a stop sign at the intersection.

Schroeder then swerved back into the southbound lane of Meridian Road and struck a tree on the west side of the road, police said. The pickup then rotated around the tree, ejecting Schroeder from the driver’s side door.

Schroeder’s air bag deployed but he was not wearing a seat belt, police said. Schroeder was pronounced dead at the scene by Porter County Coroner Vicki Deppe.

The driver of the second vehicle, Jessica A. Skalka, 19, of Portage, was not injured.

In an autopsy conducted this morning Deppe determined the cause of death to be trauma to the chest and neck but she was unable to find any obvious medical condition which might have caused Schroeder to lose control of his pickup prior to impact.

Posted 6/2/2008