Indianapolis NBC affiliate WTHR-TV Channel 13 reports that Matt Wariner, nephew of Grammy-winning country music star Steve Wariner, died in an Indiana auto accident on April 16, 2010.

He was 28, and died two days after his birthday.

A Hamilton County, Indiana, sheriff’s department spokesman said Matt Wariner lost control of his vehicle cresting a hill, struck a grove of trees and was trapped inside when the vehicle caught fire. Both witnesses and emergency crews tried to extricate Wariner from the vehicle, WTHR reported, but the flames were too intense.

Matt was also a musician, like most members of the Wariner family, and WTHR’s story by reporter Jennie Runevitch called him “a rising young star.” His guitar was found near the site of the single-vehicle accident which claimed his life.

Matt listed his uncle, Steve Wariner, as one of his heroes on his MySpace page. (This post originally linked to Matt Wariner’s MySpace page, but I removed the link after his page was deleted and another user assigned the same URL in the years following this story’s initial publication.)

“It made you proud that he would always say those things and wanted to be like you when he was a kid,” Steve Wariner told the Indianapolis television station in a phone interview following the crash.

Matt Wariner was born in Indianapolis but buried at Crownland Cemetery in Noblesville, Ind.

Steve Wariner was born in Noblesville and grew up in Russell Springs, Ky.