IU student killed in car wreck

IU student Tyler Coburn, 21, was killed in a car accident early Sunday morning in Goshen, Ind.

A Goshen police officer was called to the scene on a residential street and discovered that Coburn’s silver Mitsubishi Lancer had collided with a tree. In the accident report, the officer said high speed appeared to have contributed to the accident, Goshen Police administrative assistant Tina Kingsbury said in an email. Tanner Pederson, a 21-year-old passenger in Coburn’s vehicle, was transported to IU Health Goshen for non-life-threatening injuries, Kingsbury said.

Coburn was pronounced dead at the scene at 3:37 a.m., Kingsbury and Elkhart County Coroner John White said.

White said Coburn’s official cause of death is blunt force trauma to the chest. Coburn did not undergo an autopsy, but the coroner is conducting a toxicology screening, which can take up to two to three weeks to complete.

According to information from Yoder-Culp Funeral Home, Coburn participated in athletics at Goshen High School and was studying sports medicine at IU.

IU School of Public Health recorder Barb Bland said Coburn was pursuing a health fitness specialist degree in kinesiology. Coburn’s probable graduation date was summer 2014. She said advisers for Coburn’s department have been notified and are expected to email students about his death.

Visitation hours are from 2 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at Yoder-Culp Funeral Home in Goshen. The funeral is scheduled for Wednesday.

Coburn would have turned 22 on Friday.