Investigators changed their initial account of the crash that killed US Representative Jackie Walorski and two staff members, saying on Thursday that the car she was a passenger in had crossed the centre line prior to the head-on collision.
The Elkhart County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement it had obtained eyewitness and video evidence that showed a Toyota RAV 4 driven by Republican Party official Zachery Potts had drifted into the path of an oncoming vehicle, contradicting its earlier findings.
Ms Walorski, 58, her communications director Emma Thompson, 28, and Mr Potts, 27, were killed in the crash in northern Indiana on Wednesday afternoon.
Edith Schmucker, 56, Nappanee, Indiana, who was driving a maroon Buick LeSabre southbound, was also killed.
The sheriff’s office said they had not yet determined why the northbound SUV driven by Mr Potts had cross the center line.
It said the occupants of both vehicles were wearing seatbelts and the airbags had deployed.
“The Sheriff’s Office is continuing to interview witnesses and collect evidence from the scene and vehicles,” it said in a statement posted to Facebook.
Ms Walorski was first elected to Indiana’s 2nd Congressional District in 2012 after previously serving six years in the state’s Legislature.
She had been seeking reelection to a sixth term in November in the safe Republican district.
Tributes flowed from both sides of the political aisle after her death was announced on Wednesday afternoon.
The White House announced it would fly its flags at half mast in honour of Ms Warlorski.
