(Allen County, IN)-The Indiana State Police is investigating a single vehicle crash which occurred on US 24 east of State Road 101 involving a Huntington man who had been reported missing earlier in the day by his employer.
Preliminary investigation by Detective David Poe indicates that 53 year old Doug W. Buzzard of Huntington had been traveling eastbound on US 24 in a 2014 Volvo semi tractor pulling an enclosed trailer, when for an unknown reason, it left the south side of the roadway and went down into a very deep ditch. It is believed that the crash may have occurred last night during the late night hours or into the very early morning hours of today, and that the semi tractor trailer was not visible from the roadway.
The trucking company contacted the Indiana State Police this morning at approximately 9:30 a.m. to report that Buzzard had not arrived at his destination. Poe immediately began a missing person investigation in which an emergency ping of Buzzard’s cell phone helped narrow down his location.
Buzzard’s truck and subsequently Buzzard himself were located at about 5:30 p.m. and he was pronounced dead at the scene by the Allen County Coroner’s office. An autopsy has been scheduled to help determine the cause and manner of Buzzard’s death and its results will be released by the Coroner’s Office. The Allen County Sheriff Department and the Woodburn Fire Department also assisted at the scene. This investigation is on going at this time.