Investigators: Fatal Bike Crash Probe Could Take Weeks

COVINGTON, Ind. -- Investigators said late Tuesday that it could take several weeks to fully review a crash that killed two police officers on a charity bike ride in Vermillion County.

A truck hit bicyclists riding to raise money for families of officers who died while on duty, killing a state trooper and a retired police chief and injuring another cyclist, police said.

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Video: Crash Kills Two Officers On Charity Bike Ride

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The truck, which was providing support to the bicyclists and was marked with a large banner that read "Caution Cyclists Ahead," spun into the group after being hit by a box truck on Indiana 63 near the Indiana-Illinois state line, police said.

State police Lt. Gary Dudley and Gary Martin, who had retired in April as chief of police for the Lake County Sheriff's Department, were pronounced dead at the scene of the crash, authorities said.

Dudley worked with a state police training division in Indianapolis, where he lived, 6News reported. Martin lived in Merrillville, police said.

Injured were retired Indianapolis police Officer Spencer Moore, who was one of the bike riders; Rocky Bumpas of Mooresville, who was driving the bicyclists' support truck; and Gary Adams of Owensboro, Ky., who drove the truck that police said struck the support truck. Those three were sent to hospitals with injuries that were not believed to be life-threatening, police said.

Moore could be released from a hospital on Wednesday, his family said.

Ten bicyclists were heading south on Indiana 63 at about 12:30 p.m. when the crash happened, 6News' Jennifer Carmack reported.

"The freight truck struck the support vehicle in the rear. That vehicle then struck the cyclists," Indiana State Police spokesman Sgt. Joe Watts said.

Investigators said they would forward their findings to the Vermillion County prosecutor's office.

Watts said several police agencies were participating in the ride. Riders were raising money for Indiana Concerns of Police Officers, which provides support for families of officers killed in the line of duty and helps send them to Washington, D.C., for annual memorial services.

About 30 bicyclists planned to ride portions of 1,100 miles over 13 days, while eight were planning to trek the entire route. The ride began Aug. 16 and was to end Aug. 28 in Indianapolis at Crown Hill Cemetery's "Heroes of Public Safety."

The group was planning to ride 98 miles from Kentland in Newton County south to Terre Haute on Tuesday, according to their schedule.

The remaining bicyclists indicated they intend to finish the ride, Carmack reported.

Watts said the deaths have hit the police community hit hard.

"It's very difficult to come here and investigate the deaths of our fellow police officers," Watts said.

Police Seek People Who Saw Bicyclists Before Crash

Investigators want to talk to anyone who saw the bicyclists on Indiana 63 south of Interstate 74 before the crash on Tuesday, police said.

"The investigators would like to speak to anyone who may have seen the group after they stopped for lunch at a truck stop located near (Indiana 63) and Exit 4 on Interstate 74," state police said in a press release.

Anyone who saw the riders in that area can call Indiana State Police at 812-299-1151 or 812-299-1152.

Stay with 6News and TheIndyChannel.com for updates.