BLUFFTON, Ind. (WANE) – A crash report reveals new details leading up to the death of a 19-year-old Adams County man whose body was found last week in the Wabash River.
Investigators determined Branden Beer was driving too quickly for the rainy weather on April 30, according to the report. His 1999 Ford Ranger went off the road into the Wabash River near River Road west of County Road 450 East on Bluffton’s east side.
The search for Beer began May 3, when his vehicle was found in the river but he was not inside. He was last seen on April 30, the report said, and Beer’s mother found tire tracks that appeared to lead off the road into the river.
Eight days later, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources found a body that was later identified as Beer northwest of Bluffton, near Rose Road and County Road 100 E. in a rural part of Wells County.
According to the crash report, the truck lost control and hit a few fence posts off the road. Police believe the truck came back onto the road, possibly sideways, and likely rolled at least once before going into the river near White Bridge.

Police noted in the report Beer wasn’t wearing a seat belt when the truck crashed.