A Navy veteran and father of two was laid to rest Saturday after his car plunged into a creek while driving on a bridge that was in poor condition and should have been closed, according to North Carolina troopers.
Before he died, Phillip Paxson, 47, was on his way home his daughter’s ninth birthday party in Hickory, North Carolina, about an hour northwest of Charlotte, on a “dark and rainy night,” his mother-in-law Linda McPhee Koeing wrote on Facebook.
“The bridge had been destroyed … years ago and was never repaired,” he wrote in Oct. 3 posts.
The bridge is on an unmaintained private road next to a sign that says “land reform ends here,” local news station WCNC reported.
The accident happened around 11 pm on Sept. 30 in Catawba County, North Carolina State Highway Patrol Master Trooper Jeffrey Swagger told USA TODAY.
According to Swagger, troopers responded to a report of a vehicle in the creek on the morning of Oct. 1. At the scene they found a 2020 Jeep Gladiator stuck and partially submerged in water where the road was washed away.
Paxson, who troopers say was driving the Jeep, was found dead at the scene.
The initial investigation by the troopers found no evidence of speed, drugs or alcohol as a factor in the accident.
“Preliminary investigations indicate the situation appears to be that a portion of the track is missing,” Swagger said.
According to information obtained by the trooper’s investigation, the broken road is not a road maintained by the North Carolina Department of Transportation.
“Unfortunately, part of the road collapsed several years ago when a hole washed away,” Swagger wrote. “The previous blocks are clear and are said to have been broken and removed.”
Investigators were unable to determine whether Paxson was following or using any GPS while driving, Swagger said.
“He uses Google maps but I have no idea he was using their routes,” the victim’s widow Alicia Paxson told USA TODAY Saturday.
Earlier this week he shared pictures of the bridge on his Facebook page and wrote. “I want everyone to know that this is a preventable problem.”
“It was a completely preventable accident,” Paxson’s mother-in-law also wrote. “We are saddened by his death.”
Natalie Neysa Alund covers breaking news for USA TODAY. Reach him at nalund@usatoday.com and follow him on Twitter @nataliealund.