A 37-year-old man from Vidalia, Louisiana was killed early Monday morning when the van he was driving ran off a rural roadway in Jones County, Texas. The crash happened around 6:10 a.m. on FM 600 at County Road 223, east of the small community of Avoca, according to authorities. Investigators say the northbound van failed to negotiate a curve, overcorrected to the left, left the roadway and struck a concrete culvert before coming to rest in a drainage canal. The driver, identified as George Matthew Thorpe, was not wearing a seatbelt and was partially ejected in the crash. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
According to the Concordia Sentinel (hannapub.com), Thorpe’s hometown newspaper, the Texas Department of Public Safety is handling the investigation into what caused the van to leave the roadway. San Angelo LIVE! reported that weather and road conditions were clear and dry at the time, and that the posted speed limit on FM 600 is 70 mph. A Jones County Justice of the Peace pronounced Thorpe dead at the scene. DPS said the crash appears to have involved only Thorpe’s vehicle, with no other vehicles involved.
