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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowAuthorities say two people are dead after the car they were riding in early Thursday morning hit a tree, crashed into a building and caught fire in downtown Indianapolis near Illinois and 16th streets.
The Indianapolis Fire Department responded shortly after 1 a.m. Thursday. Witnesses reported that the Tesla was travelling at a high rate of speed and lost control.
The Marion County Coroner's Office identified the dead as 27-year-old driver Casey Speckman and her passenger, 44-year-old Kevin McCarthy.
McCarthy was a member of IBJ's Forty Under 40 Class of 2008. At the time, the Indianapolis native was president of Reverse 911, which allowed government officials to send targeted digital messages to people in a defined geographic area in case of emergency.
McCarthy most recently was president and CEO of Express Software and Services. It was featured in an IBJ article last year about cloud-savvy startups.
The fire department says the crash left debris that included battery components from the electric car scattered over an area about 150-yards long.
Crews used a combination of dry powder and water to extinguish the fires.
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