INDIANAPOLIS July 28, 2013 (AP)
An Indianapolis church mourned their youth pastor, his pregnant wife and a congregation member Sunday after the three died when their bus returning from a northern Michigan camp overturned a mile from home.
Saturday's accident devastated members of Colonial Hills Baptist Church, who had been anticipating a joyful homecoming with the 37 people aboard the bus. The crash killed youth pastor Chad Phelps; his pregnant piano-teacher wife, Courtney Phelps; and chaperone Tonya Weindorf, deacon Jeff Leffew said.
The crash, which happened Saturday afternoon near Interstate 465, injured dozens. Seven teens remained hospitalized Sunday, including one in critical condition. Bus driver Dennis Maurer, a 68-year-old member of the congregation, told authorities that the brakes failed before the church-owned vehicle struck a raised concrete median and flipped on its side, Indianapolis metro police said.
Chad Phelps, the son of the church's senior pastor, and his wife were both in their mid-20s, Leffew said, and were expecting their second child next month. Chad Phelps had become youth pastor at Colonial Hills late last year, he said." ... We're going to have a long road, but God is good," Leffew said Sunday during a news conference.
The Phelpses' first child, Chase, nearly 2 years old, was among the injured. He was treated and released from a hospital Saturday, IU Health spokeswoman Sally Winter said.
Authorities are still investigating the crash. The bus was nearly finished with a 365-mile journey, overturning just a mile from the church, where parents were waiting to pick up their children after a weeklong camp filled with prayer, zip lines and basketball.
