Police: Man died Saturday after his car was swept away
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on October 11, 2016 8:41 PM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
A tow truck driver from George's Body Shop pulls the vehicle of Wayne County's first fatality related to Hurricane Matthew from the woods behind Kitty Askins Hospice Center.
Goldsboro police are waiting until the family can be notified before releasing the identity of a 54-year-old man they say died in his truck Saturday after trying to drive through rushing water during Hurricane Matthew.
Witnesses said the victim's car was carried away by flood waters on Wayne Memorial Drive during Hurricane Matthew -- making his the first life claimed in Wayne County directly by the storm -- but no one knew the man didn't make it out alive, the police department said.
Two deaths reported earlier by County officials were said to have been of natural causes.
Officers retrieved the body of the deceased Tuesday evening after workers cleaning water damage at Kitty Askins Hospice Center found the the man, still in his truck, in the woods behind the building.
Specialized Traffic Enforcement Unit officer Jay Holland said the man was driving on Wayne Memorial Drive around 7 p.m. Saturday night during the storm, and was followed by another car.
Holland said the vehicle stalled out in deep waters near the intersection of Wayne Memorial Drive and Country Day Road, and so did the vehicle following him.
Both vehicles were swept off the road by the water, coming to rest about 300 feet off the road in the woods behind.
"One of the things I really want to stress is to never drive through standing or running water," Holland said. "You don't know what the current of the water is, or if the roadway will give away."
Holland said warning the public of the consequences of driving through standing or moving water is imperative, as the Neuse River is expected to crest at more than 30 feet Wednesday.
The driver of the second vehicle was able to escape death or injury after their car was swept off the road.
but when the driver returned to retrieve their belongings from their own car, they did not see the driver of the other vehicle still inside the car.
"They came back a few days later and retrieved their belongings," Holland said. "They saw the truck submerged but did not know someone was inside."