Southard killed in pickup accident

A local man was killed while his passenger escaped injury when their truck crashed and overturned on Rocky River Road in neighboring Van Buren County early Saturday morning.

The fatally injured victim, Andrew Southard, 24, of McMinnville was driving the Ford F250 pickup when it left the road and overturned around 3 a.m. Saturday. Troopers say wearing a seatbelt may have saved his life as his passenger, Christopher Vance, 29, also of McMinnville, who was sitting just a couple of feet away from Southard in the truck, was properly restrained and suffered no injuries.

‘It is the opinion of the investigating officer that wearing a seatbelt may have made a difference in the case of Mr. Southard,’ said a highway patrol spokesman in light of the absence of injuries suffered by his restrained passenger.

According to highway patrol reports, Southard was traveling northbound on Rocky River Road, a two-lane secondary road located just on the Van Buren County side of the Warren-Van Buren line, when he lost control of his truck for unknown reasons.

He then ran off the left side of the road before overcorrecting, bringing his truck back up onto the pavement where he ran off the right side of the road. It was at that point the momentum of the truck caused it to roll over, with the pickup coming to rest on its top.

Complete obituary information for Mr. Southard is available on 2-A.