BOX ELDER COUNTY, Utah, Feb. 24, 2023 (Gephardt Daily) — The body of the driver of a crashed vehicle was found a half-mile from the crash site during Wednesday’s storm.
Emergency crews responded to the site on State Road 13 at mile marker 16, a few miles north of Bear River City, at 1:30 a.m. Wednesday, according to a Thursday post on the Utah Highway Patrol website.
“Due to the severe weather in this area, driving conditions were slick with low visibility. The vehicle reportedly slid off the road into a ditch.”
No occupants were found at the scene where Troopers located a 2018 Honda Civic in a ditch with minimal damage.
“Troopers were unable to locate a driver at the crash location,” UHP reported.
Troopers contacted the vehicle’s registered owner and arranged for it to be towed at their request. A family member confirmed that Samuel Slade, 19, of Layton, should have been driving the car, UHP said, but they were unaware of his whereabouts.
Troopers coordinated with family members to check Slade’s potential locations. After conversations with the family, it was determined that the driver could have been at an acquaintance’s residence in Tremonton. At this time, Troopers returned to their patrol duties.
Later that same morning, family members contacted law enforcement again, concerned that Slade had not come home. Troopers and family members returned to the crash scene at about 11 a.m. Wednesday, UHP spokesman Sgt. Cameron Roden said, and a short time later Slade’s body was found by a family member.
An investigation into the crash and death of the driver is currently ongoing. UHP is conducting the crash investigation alongside the Box Elder County Sheriff’s Office, UHP said, with the sheriff’s office handling the death investigation.
“We extend our deepest condolences to the Slade family for their loss,” the UHP statement said.
Why was the sheriffs dept and search and rescue not called?He had called home at 1 am before he left his friends home (where his cell phone was found). He was still alive when UHP went to his car 30 minutes later. They had time to call a tow truck, but not search and rescue and the sheriff’s dept? A search light could have found him.