Police search for van in Ecker crash

ANDOVER, Mass. (WWLP) - State Police are searching for a van that may have been involved in a crash on Route 93 in Andover on Friday night that killed a local Army veteran.

According to State Police, a 1996 Pontiac Sunfire coupe driven by 21-year-old Stephanie Ortiz of Lawrence was traveling in the right lane of Route 93 southbound when she lost control and rolled over an embankment.

Twenty-three year-old Mark Ecker II was ejected from the vehicle. He was taken to Lawrence General Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

State Police are asking anyone who saw an older-model dark blue passenger van on Route 93 southbound around 4:45 p.m. on Friday to call the Andover State Police barracks at (978) 475-3800.

Ecker was a decorated Iraq War veteran from East Longmeadow who narrowly escaped death in 2007 when an improvised explosive device went off as he patrolled the streets of Ramadi. While recovering at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, doctors fitted him with two prosthetic legs. He was celebrated across the country and was the recipient of the Purple Heart.

According to the Ecker family, final arrangements for Mark are as follows:

* Friday - Calling hours at East Longmeadow High School from 3 - 8 p.m. in the auditorium

* Saturday - Memorial service at East Longmeadow High School on the football field at 11a.m.

* Monday - Burial at Veterans Cemetery in Agawam at 11a.m.