Downpour triggers deadly pickup crash

Highway Patrol Sgt. Jeff Mosley gets the tag number off the truck driven by Sheridan D. Lynch. The Hills Creek resident was killed when his truck rolled on top of him after he hydroplaned off Beersheba Highway during a rainstorm Tuesday morning.

The victim, Sheridan D. Lynch, 61, was pronounced dead at the scene from injuries he received when his truck rolled on top of him after he was partially ejected.

According to Highway Patrol Sgt. Jeff Mosley, the accident happened around 10:15 a.m. on Highway 56 South just north of Irving College during a driving rainstorm. Lynch was traveling southbound, heading in the direction of his Hills Creek Road home, which was located just a few miles from the accident site.

Investigators suspect Lynch?s truck hydroplaned due to the heavy rain and given the fact the road is straight at the point where he lost control and that he was traveling uphill. His truck then crossed the highway and slid over a steep embankment located off the McMinnville-bound shoulder.

The truck then began rolling as it plummeted over the embankment, throwing Lynch out as it rolled. Lawmen do not believe Lynch was wearing a seatbelt as he was partially ejected from the truck and was found underneath the wreckage by rescue workers.

The preliminary investigation has found no other causes or contributors to the fatal wreck, leading troopers to list the heavy rain and loss of traction as the overriding reasons for the accident.