Bayboro Man Dead After Truck Runs Off Road Into Water

Authorities say a 50-year-old man likely suffered fatal personal injuries through drowning when the pickup truck he was driving ran off a North Carolina road and wound up in a river that was raging due to heavy rains.

According to Pamlico County Emergency Services Director David Spruill, Bayboro resident Dwight Harper was traveling along N.C. 304 on September 30 when the truck he was driving went into the headwaters of the Bay River with him trapped inside around 4 p.m.

Harper’s body was recovered nearly four hours later.

Spruill said it was uncertain what caused the vehicle to veer into the water. He noted that rescue divers required ropes to avoid being swept away by the swift water.

In an earlier accident, four members of an Atlanta family died after their sport utility vehicle hydroplaned near Creswell, went down an embankment, and overturned into a ditch filled with water.