Bodies of 6 killed in Johnson County crash returned to India as investigation continues

Support has poured in for the six people who died in a head-on crash in Johnson County last week, and investigators are still piecing together details surrounding the deadly collision.

GoFundMe pages dedicated to the six who died raised hundreds of thousands of dollars as of Wednesday afternoon. Additionally, a Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman told The Dallas Morning News investigators are looking into the possibility of drugs being a factor for the motorist who fatally struck the group.

Shortly after 4 p.m. Dec. 26, authorities were notified of a crash near the intersection of U.S. Highway 67 and County Road 1119, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety. Investigators believe a pickup was passing in a no passing zone and struck a minivan ”head-on” on the opposite lane of the highway, the department has said.

Six of the seven occupants of the minivan died following the crash: Rushil Barri, 28; Nageswararao Ponnada, 64; Sitamahalakshmi Ponnada, 60; Naveena Potabathula, 36; Krithik Potabathula, 10; and Nishidha Potabathula, 9; according to Texas DPS.

Lokesh Potabathula, 43, was critically injured and taken to a hospital, Texas DPS has said. Multiple people who were in the minivan lived in Georgia, authorities have said.

A GoFundMe page dedicated to Potabathula’s family had raised more than $413,000 as of about 4:30 p.m. Wednesday. A separate GoFundMe page has been dedicated to Barri.

Ashok Kolla with the Telugu Association of North America has said all of the people in the minivan were Telugu-speaking. The organization helped transport the bodies of the six who died back to India, Ashok said. Aside from the two children who died, the rest of the occupants of the minivan are believed to have been Indian nationals, and were family members; Barri is reportedly a “distant relative,” Kolla has said.

All six bodies were flown back to India on Sunday morning, Kolla said. Lokesh Potabathula is still at a Fort Worth-area hospital, he added.

A person who identified himself as Barri’s roommate told KXAS-TV (NBC 5) the occupants of the minivan had visited the Fossil Rim Wildlife Center shortly before the crash.

The two occupants of the pickup, both 17 years old and from Glen Rose, were also injured in the crash and taken to medical facilities, according to authorities. They have been identified as Luke Resecker and Preston Glass. Both were hospitalized in critical condition, according to Texas DPS.

William Lockridge, a Texas DPS spokesman, said no criminal charges had been filed as of Wednesday.

Investigators found what appeared to be drugs inside the pickup, Lockridge said, but added that it’s unclear whether the driver was under the influence of drugs at the time of the crash.

“There were drugs found, but that’s part of the search warrants [authorities have] been working on; it’s getting blood results and everything back from the driver, so until we get the results, we don’t know,” Lockridge said.