A pizza deliveryman was killed Saturday night when his vehicle plunged over an embankment as he was returning from a delivery.
The victim, Joseph “Jody” Partin, 27, of Gruetli-Laager was pronounced dead on arrival at Saint Thomas River Park Hospital. Investigators say he had been thrown from his car as it rolled down the embankment off Francis Ferry Road. He was not wearing a seatbelt.
“It’s one of those cases where if he’d been wearing a seatbelt, he’d still be with us today,” said Highway Patrol Sgt. Billy Prater of the crash, noting there were no signs of drug or alcohol use.
According to the report filed by Highway Patrolman Rodney Whiles, the crash was discovered around 11 p.m. when a couple of passersby happened to notice headlights shining up from the bottom of an embankment on the side of Francis Ferry Road. When rescue units arrived, they found Partin had been ejected from the wreckage and was outside the Saturn.
A reconstruction of the wreck scene revealed Partin was headed south (toward McMinnville) when he ran off the left side of the road. His car then plunged down a steep embankment during which time he was ejected.
Partin had worked for the local Pizza Hut for about a year and an employee there described his death as “devastating.” Partin reportedly went out on a pizza delivery and did not return.
As to his location, authorities are still trying to piece together why he was on Francis Ferry Road when his last delivery for Pizza Hut had been scheduled for around 10 p.m. on Faulkner Springs Road.
At present, the best speculation is he may have tried to take a shortcut and got lost on his return trip. However, investigators admit they may never know exactly why Partin was on Francis Ferry Road at the time of the fatal accident.