Three people died and one more was critically injured in a Sunday evening crash on Interstate 96 near the ramp from M-59 to westbound I-96. / ALAN WARD / DAILY PRESS & ARGUS
HOWELL TOWNSHIP, Mich. (Lansing State Journal) - A third victim in a Sunday fatal crash in Howell Township has died from her injuries.
Sheriff Bob Bezotte said 49-year-old Susan Bloomstine, of Wyoming, Mich., died from her injuries during the night at the University of Michigan Medical Center.
Also killed in the 5:21 p.m. crash were 80-year-old Charles Wright, of Wyoming, and George Tissen, 54, of Fowlerville.
Bezotte said witnesses indicated that Tissen, who was driving a 2002 Ford Ranger eastbound on Interstate 96, went into the median, traveled about 300 yards in the opposite direction and crossed to the westbound lanes where his vehicle collided with a 2007 Ford Taurus in the center lane, just west of M-59.
Police speculate Tissen experienced a medical event. "Witnesses said they couldn't see him driving," Bezotte said. "It was like he was lying down in the seat."
Tissen and the front seat passenger of the Ranger, whom police identified as Charles Wright, 80, of Wyoming, died at the scene.
Bloomstine, who was not wearing a seat belt, was flown by Survival Flight to the U-M where she later died. Her husband, Legrand Bloomstine, 57, who was driving the Taurus, also was transported to the U-M where he remains in serious condition today, Bezotte said.
Bezotte said an autopsy is expected on Tissen.
Alcohol was not believed to be a factor in the collision, the sheriff said. Howell police, Howell firefighters, Fowlerville police, and Michigan Department Natural Resources personnel assisted sheriff's deputies at the scene.