Indiana Rep. Jackie Walorski died Wednesday afternoon in a car crash, House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy confirmed in a statement on social media.
McCarthy on Twitter shared a statement — “with a heavy heart” — that he said was from Walorski’s office.
“Jackie was killed in a car accident this afternoon. She has returned home to be with her Lord and Savior, Jesus Chris. Please keep her family in your thoughts and prayers. We will have no further comment at this time,” the statement read.
According to the statement, Walorski’s husband was notified of her death by the Elkhart County Sheriff’s Office in Indiana.
Rep. Jackie Walorski is interviewed in her Cannon Building office in Washington, May 20, 2014.
Tom Williams/AP, FILE
A former state lawmaker, Walorski had represented Indiana’s 2nd Congressional District since 2013.
According to her House biography, she and her husband “previously spent four years as missionaries in Romania, where they started and ran a foundation to provide food and medical supplies to impoverished children there. Jackie also worked as a television news reporter in South Bend and as a development director for colleges and universities in Indiana.”
Walorski’s Republican colleague Adam Kinzinger, of Illinois, mourned her death in a brief tweet Wednesday.
“My heart is heavy, and i don’t have the words. But all I can say is prayers for her family,” he wrote. “She was a good and honorable public servant.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
