UPDATE: Man found dead after driving semi off 200-foot cliff; video

HURRICANE – Additional information has been released about a man discovered dead Thursday in a semitruck that went off a 200-foot cliff on state Route 59 near the Hurricane Hill Trailhead sometime during the past five days.

A semitruck that went off a 200-foot cliff on state Route 59 near the Hurricane Hill Trailhead, Hurricane, Utah, Aug. 27, 2015 | Photo by Kimberly Scott, St. George News
A semitruck that went off a 200-foot cliff on state Route 59 near the Hurricane Hill Trailhead, Hurricane, Utah, Aug. 27, 2015 | Photo by Kimberly Scott, St. George News

At about 10:41 a.m., officers were dispatched to a report of a semi that went off a steep cliff on SR-59, Hurricane City Police Sgt. Brandon Buell said.

“As information started coming in on this, our officers were notified that a semi had left a destination on Saturday and had possibly not been heard from in a few days,” Buell said, “and, at that point they were trying to look and find where the semi was at, and this is how the semi was found.”

The semi was discovered at the bottom of about a 200-foot ravine, Buell said.

St. George News reader Sarah Walther added the following comment on Facebook about the semi crash:

We stopped there Tuesday night and I said to my husband that I didn’t remember that being there before … I didn’t realize how recent it really was. My condolences to the family.

“We found some marks and indications of where that semi left on the top,” Buell said. “We don’t know at this point, why or how a semi left the roadway. Upon approaching the semi, we did find a deceased person in the semi.”

A high-angle ropes team was initially called out to assist in the recovery but later called off as responders determined to remove the wreckage from below the crash scene.

“We’re interviewing – conducting interviews and trying to find out as much information as we can on what took place here,” Buell said. “In very unfortunate circumstances, somebody’s lost their life. It’s very unfortunate and my heart goes out to their families.”

SR-59 remained open in both directions during recovery efforts.

Hurricane City Police and Hurricane Valley Fire departments as well as Washington County Search and Rescue crews responded to the incident.

This report is based on preliminary information provided by law enforcement or other emergency responders and may not contain the full scope of findings.

Click on photo to enlarge it, then use your left-right arrow keys to cycle through the gallery.

Related posts

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @STGnews

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2015, all rights reserved.

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!

1 Comment

  • 42214 August 29, 2015 at 10:46 am

    If he had all his wives with him he’d have needed a bus.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.