ALLEGAN COUNTY (WHTC-AM/FM) — Allegan County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a traffic death of a man whose body was discovered on the shoulder of northbound U.S. 131, near the Wayland exit.
Police discovered his body just before 9 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 21, 2018.
Investigators determined he’d likely been struck by a vehicle.
Dispatch records showed the report of a vehicle driving erratically on northbound U.S. 131 at about 2:15 a.m. — and that the vehicle had crashed in the area. Police were unable to locate the driver at that time. At about 5:30 a.m., dispatchers received a call about a car-deer crash in the area.
While officers did not locate a deer, they noted the vehicle had damage consistent with hitting a deer (not another car or hard object). Police located nothing else in the area.
Police investigators have determined that the dead man was likely the driver of the vehicle that had crashed at 2:15 a.m. He had been wearing dark clothing, with no reflective surfaces. Police determined he would have been “extremely difficult to see in that full darkness.”
The crash remains under investigation, accoreing to Allegan County Sheriff’s officials, who emailed a statement to the media.
The driver who reported the car-deer crash is cooperating with police.
No names of individuals involved in this case will be released at this time pending family notifications, police said, noting that updates in this case will likely be delayed due to the Christmas holiday.
The sheriff’s office was assisted on the scene by the Michigan State Police, Wayland Police Department, Wayland EMS and Wayland Fire Department.
