Fatal Accident 8 Miles West of Corrigan, CORRIGAN, February 10, 2011 - A black 2005 Dodge truck was found by Deputy Vance Berry who was driving on FM-287 West. The truck was traveling east-bound on 287 (towards Corrigan) when it left the road to the right, went up an embankment, and into some trees. "I was driving on 287 and looked up in the trees and it looked like one had a license plate" Berry said, "I thought to myself, trees don't have license plates", he continued, "...so I checked it out and it was a truck that had crashed earlier", Berry said. Sadly there was a 31 year old man inside who was deceased. The driver was identified as John Kenneth McCelvey, 31, of Lovelady. The Corrigan Volunteer Fire Department was dispatched to the scene along with Corrigan Policeman Kevin DeSaintes and Troopers David Morris and Sergeant Nita Bowen. The accident apparently happened sometime after 8 pm and was discovered by Deputy Berry shortly before 9 pm. The truck was found on its side with McCelvey still inside. Traffic was not blocked during investigation and cleanup. Justice of the Peace Precinct 4, Stephen McEntyre performed an inquest at the scene. A first-call car from Corrigan Funeral Home recovered McCelvey's body. A rollback wrecker from Clifton Chevrolet recovered the vehicle and it will be stored in Corrigan. As for the reason that McCelvey's vehicle left the road remains under investigation by the Texas Department of Public Safety. The scene was cleared by 12:25 am.
Trooper David Morris with the Texas Highway Patrol peers into scene of a fatal accident.
John Kenneth McCelvey appears to have been killed when the truck turned on its side and slammed into some trees. The collision actually knocked down some pine trees. The driver's side of the roof was crushed.
Volunteer Firemen from Corrigan used a chainsaw to cut some of the trees out of the way in order to free the truck so that it could be pulled from the trees.
Once the truck was removed from the trees, the totality of the damage was revealed.
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