Ron Wilkins

rwilkins@jconline.com

DEMOTTE, Ind. — Shawn and Julie Holm-Hansen don't have answers for why their 23-year-old son, Luke, jumped out of a moving van Friday on Interstate 65 and crawled into oncoming traffic.

The bizarre circumstances surrounding Luke's death and the lack of answers only adds to their sense of loss.

"There's a lot of things I don’t know," Shawn Holm-Hansen said Monday from his rural Jasper County home. "We're very confused."

Indiana State Police are just as puzzled by Luke's death.

Luke Holm-Hansen was in the front passenger seat of a red van traveling 70 mph in the right lane of I-65 about 2:20 p.m. Friday. Suddenly, he opened the door of the van and jumped just north of the Frankfort exit, Indiana State Police Sgt. Kim Riley said.

“He mumbled something, unhooked the seat belt and just jumped out before they could get to him,” Riley said, noting that police continued Monday to investigate the events surrounding Holm-Hansen's death.

“They had no clue that he was going to do that,” Riley said of the three adults and one child in the van with Luke.

The van pulled over onto the shoulder after Luke jumped, but that was several hundred yards north from where Luke scrambled across the northbound lanes on his hands and feet, according to police.

Riley said investigators treated the scene as if it might be a crime scene because investigators didn't know what they had Friday afternoon as they sifted through witnesses' statements. Answers are still difficult to find.

“He never hit the black top,” Riley said, noting that Luke cleared the asphalt shoulder, landing in the grass.

But it appeared Luke injured himself from the jump because witnesses never saw him standing on two legs.

Laura Jones, a graduate student at Northwestern University, was traveling northbound at 70 mph and was surprised when she saw a man on all fours in the median. At first glance, she thought it was an animal, then noticed it was a man.

As she sped past, she saw Luke Holm-Hansen leap into the southbound lanes and be run over, she said Friday night. She continued to travel north and called 911.

A red Jeep Grand Cherokee and a white minivan likely would have gotten stopped in time to avoid Luke, but a gray Chevy rear-ended the minivan, pushing the Jeep and the minivan into and over Luke, Riley said.

For Shawn Holm-Hansen and his family, this week promises to be painful — picking up Luke's body and planning his funeral for later in the week, Shawn said.

Riley said an autopsy was performed Monday, but Clinton County Coroner Amanda Abbott said late Monday afternoon that the report has not been finished.

Riley said toxicology reports might show whether drugs or alcohol played a role in Luke's choices.

"He was a good kid," Shawn said of his son, describing him as a free-spirit, loving, and blessed with a quick wit.

"He was a very funny kid," he said of his Luke, who liked to fish, camp and ride four-wheelers. "He was always a kidder, a joker."

Luke graduated from Covenant Christian High School in Demotte in 2012, where he was on the golf team, Shawn Holm-Hansen said. Luke worked as a machinist — most recently at Omni Forge in Remington, he said. But Luke had been between jobs lately.

Indiana State Police continue to investigate the incident that closed I-65 for about five hours on Friday afternoon. Riley said.

J&C breaking news reporter Ron Wilkins can be reached at 765-420-5231; follow on Twitter @RonWilkins2