In the heart of the Tuesday night snowstorm, a fatal crash was investigated on U.S. 24 in Defiance County. The Highway Patrol reports 54 year old Lyle E. Smith, Jr. of Ney was westbound on Route 24 at about 10:45pm Tuesday night. Smith lost control of his Jeep, and it struck a semi that was parked along the highway with maintenance problems, but had flashers activated. Lyle Smith suffered critical injuries in the collision, and was pronounced dead at the scene. The truck driver from Indiana was not injured. The location of the crash on U.S. 24 was just east of Jewell Road; which closed the westbound lanes for over an hour.