ST. GEORGE — A car located at the bottom of an embankment just off Interstate 15 in St. George Sunday morning led investigators to Mesquite, Nevada, in an attempt to determine how it ended up there.
At around 9 a.m., a motorist noticed the silver Hyundai two-door passenger car located below a steep embankment off the I-15 Exit 8 southbound off-ramp near St. George Boulevard just east of the Wendy’s restaurant.
St. George Police officers were initially called to the scene and determined that the vehicle was likely exiting the interstate when it went off the road, so they called in Utah Highway Patrol troopers for further investigation.
It appeared the vehicle was below the embankment for several hours before it was discovered by the motorist who called 911 to report it, UHP trooper Chris Terry said.
Once the registration check on the vehicle came back to a Mesquite man, police reached out to Nevada authorities who said they would make contact with the owner of the car.
“We contacted Mesquite who is handling that part of the investigation on their end to see what happened with the car,” Terry said.
On the off-ramp, skid marks leading to where the car left the roadway were clearly visible and indicated several possible scenarios, Terry said. The driver may have hit black ice and lost control of the car or was possibly impaired when the crash occurred and then left the scene without notifying authorities.
“We don’t really have enough information without speaking the the vehicle’s owner to know why this car is down here,” Terry said.
The car was later towed from the scene.
This report is based on statements from police and may not contain the full scope of findings due to the ongoing investigation.
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Utah Highway Patrol responds to a reported abandoned vehicle located in small field below the Exit 8 off-ramp of southbound Interstate 15, St. George, Utah, Dec. 2, 2018 | Photo by Cody Blowers, St. George News A silver Hyundai passenger car is towed after officers found the car abandoned in a small field below the Exit 8 off-ramp of southbound Interstate 15, St. George, Utah, Dec. 2, 2018 | Photo by Cody Blowers, St. George News A silver Hyndai passenger car is found abandoned in a small field below the Exit 8 off-ramp of southbound Interstate 15, St. George, Utah, Dec. 2, 2018 | Photo by Cody Blowers, St. George News Utah Highway Patrol and a wrecker respond to a reported abandoned vehicle located in small field below the Exit 8 off-ramp of southbound Interstate 15, St. George, Utah, Dec. 2, 2018 | Photo by Cody Blowers, St. George News Utah Highway Patrol responds to a reported abandoned vehicle located in small field below the Exit 8 off-ramp of southbound Interstate 15, St. George, Utah, Dec. 2, 2018 | Photo by Cody Blowers, St. George News A silver Hyndai passenger car is found abandoned in a small field below the Exit 8 off-ramp of southbound Interstate 15, St. George, Utah, Dec. 2, 2018 | Photo by Cody Blowers, St. George News
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It’s no mystery he left the scene, down in a ditch by himself in the cold. No one injured. I imagine he was quite shook up. Was he impaired? Well he was a good enough driver to avoid that massive Sycamore tree… or just lucky… or just unlucky…
Oh on second look, it appears he tagged it good. There is a scar on the tree and his right fender lost the fight.