Man killed in hit-and-run on Blue Ridge Parkway in NC, park says. Driver sought

A body was found on the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina, and investigators believe he was was the victim of a hit-and-run crash, according to the National Park Service.

The victim was identified as 33-year-old Brandon Lee Wagoner, of Sparta, N.C., the park service said in a news release.

A witness reported finding Wagoner’s body near milepost 221 in Alleghany County around 6 a.m. Tuesday, May 30, officials said. The crash scene is near Sparta, about 100 miles north of Charlotte.

“The on-scene investigation revealed that Wagoner was struck by a vehicle,” the park service reports.

Investigators say the driver did not report the incident, prompting a search for tips from “anyone who may have traveled along the Blue Ridge Parkway area of milepost 221 ... in the overnight or early morning hours of Tuesday.”

The NPS Investigative Services Branch tip line is 888-653-0009 or witnesses can email nps_isb@nps.gov. The NC State Bureau of Investigation, N.C. Highway Patrol and the Alleghany County Sheriff’s Department are assisting in the investigation.

Wagoner’s death is at least the third fatality this year on the parkway, including a Canadian bicyclist who died of cardiac arrest on May 4, the park says.

The parkway is a two-lane road that winds 469 miles through the Appalachian Highlands of Virginia and North Carolina. It attracted an estimated 15.7 million visitors in 2022.

This story was originally published May 31, 2023 at 2:49 PM with the headline "Man killed in hit-and-run on Blue Ridge Parkway in NC, park says. Driver sought."