BROOKVILLE, IN — A Laurel father has reached a settlement with Franklin County in a wrongful death lawsuit stemming from the 2020 drowning deaths of his two daughters and four others.
Josh Mosier filed the lawsuit against the county and the Sheriff’s Office on January 11, 2021, alleging they were negligent in notifying the public about a washed-out Sanes Creek bridge and roadway.
Mosier’s daughters – 4-year-old KyLee and 7-year-old Elysium – their 13-year-old half-brother Ethan and their mother Felina Lewis drowned on March 20, 2020, when their vehicle was swept away from the Sanes Creek bridge.
Burton Spurlock and Shawn Roberts also died after their vehicle was swept away by floodwaters.
A caller to 911 that day said Sanes Creek bridge was flooded and that someone should be sent to block it off.
It was later determined that dispatchers coded the call as a non-emergency.
Details of the settlement are being kept confidential for the most part, although the county’s insurance carrier has paid at least $1.3 million.
