Fisherman found body after train sent car plunging into NC river. Man now identified
Two months after a train hit a car, sending it plunging into a North Carolina river, a body that a fisherman found in the water has been identified, officials said.
On Jan. 14, troopers responded to an area near U.S. Highways 29 and 70 in Davidson County, roughly 50 miles northeast of Charlotte, Master Trooper Ned Moultrie of the N.C. State Highway Patrol told McClatchy News in a phone interview.
Officials said a Chevrolet was near the railroad tracks at about 9 p.m when a train approached. The crew on board saw the car, and tried honking the train horn and slowing down before impact, WFMY reported.
The part of the train pushed the car into the Yadkin River, and searchers spent hours trying to find it the night of the incident, according to The Dispatch. But the search ended ahead of an expected blast of winter weather.
A week later, Davidson County Sheriff Richie Simmons said a car was found in the river, but the person it belonged to was missing, The Dispatch reported. Then on Feb. 26, a fisherman saw a body that was later pulled from the water.
After the body was sent to a medical examiner’s office, the person was identified on Thursday, March 17, as 64-year-old William Franklin Head of Greensboro. The car involved in the crash belonged to him, officials said.
This story was originally published March 18, 2022 at 9:25 AM with the headline "Fisherman found body after train sent car plunging into NC river. Man now identified."
