By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
A Silver Creek area man who went missing yesterday was found dead last night inside his wrecked truck twenty to thirty feet down an embankment not far from his home.
Paul L. Halstead, 63, had left home yesterday morning and by afternoon, his family and deputies were looking for him because he hadn’t returned, according to responders.
His family found his Ford Ranger pickup on its top off of state Route 122, about two miles northwest of Mossyrock, according to the Washington State Patrol.
Troopers and aid responded to the scene just west of Steelhead Drive about 8 p.m., Washington State Patrol Sgt. Mike Cournyer said.
Cournyer said he believes the crash occurred in the morning.
It had rained, so there weren’t tire marks on the road and the vehicle was such that a person wouldn’t have seen it unless they were in exactly the right spot, Cournyer said.
Troopers concluded Halstead was westbound from Steelhead Drive and drifted to the right, and then overcorrected causing his truck to leave the roadway, roll down the embankment and come to rest on its top. He was seat belted in, responders said.
Cournyer said it’s a narrow and curvy road and the cause of the crash seemed to be inattention, but the coroner should be able to determine for sure what happened.
The 2007 Ford Ranger was described as totaled.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
sorry you lost yur brother like this.we left that morning to morton @ 10 ish am.. sence 08 the telly poll been replaced 2 times they have fixed the road in front of my drive way .from what i seen he left the road before my drive way/colverts.good 30 yd,s or so i did not notice it tell we got back my driveway gets used alot there they just drift to fare off the road so really i thought it was anther one in and out of the drive way.. i have even help retrive a boat once there.. i was shocked how fare he went for jsut leaven steelhead drive ?.. i did look on other side of the road and did not see nothing to make me look into it.. 1 i am very sorry .2 i wished we would of seen more for me to go looking we did not notice it tell all t he lights and the dogs going off..my wife has had issues when comeing home from work we had a man with bow and arrow hunting out of his truck in my driveway .. the next week he left the local tav and my wife comeign home 10 pm seen soemhting funny@ 122 and burly road so she turned and seen it was the bottem of the truck she looked inside the truck …(beer cans all over) he was standing in the cab with truck on side..she called his wife.. she was not wanting to hear what my wife was saying..he spent the weekend in jail! i am very happy this was not the case with htis wreck. this road needs to be slowed down locals are crazy here tail gateing if i pull a trailer out of my driveway i am allways wondering if were going to get hit.. struggle on peace bj..ps i am learning disabled sorry if that bothers some it is how i was born happy trails
I saw went to the scene of the accident and saw the painted markings made by investigators. It is clear to me that my brother traveled a short way down the shoulder of the road that led to a drain ditch which had a drain pipe facing his direction. I have seen am accident like this in front of my home. Once the driver hits the drain pipe it flips the car. Very sad my brother was a very safe driver. Something happened to make him leave the road.
There is also the possibility that Mr. Halstead had some medical event which preceded his vehicle leaving the highway. He was obviously well acquainted with that highway and probably wasn’t a speeder.
My 72 year old brother-in-law was just driving down the road in his convertible, enjoying the sunshine, when he either had a stroke or heart attack and ran off the road. He was found dead in his seat belt but didn’t sustain much injury from the car leaving the road. In his case, if it’s your time to go, that was probably just about as good a way as you can expect. My sister, who was quite a lot younger, is now re-married to number 8:)
DOT won’t do anything unless a road or highway starts to accumulate a large than normal number of fatalities.
very sad! it is our driveway he hit.there is a problem with the speeds on this hwy. We asked how to change this and was told to contact D.O.T. R.I.P sorry for the loss
Many thanks to all who volunteered to look for my brother. He was a very special man and will be greatly missed by his family.
It’s always puzzled me as to why that twisting and narrow highway is posted 50mph through that area.
Very sorry for your loss.
Very sad… very nice guy that will be greatly missed by all of us at the Buckstop! When his wife was in here last night to see if he had been here it left a knot in our stomachs… his family are in our thoughts and prayers…
Sorry for the family but glad they found him.
So very sorry , we were all wishing for a happier response. Our condolences to his family …
Our prayers, Mr. Paul Halstead