Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, October 4, 1995 TAG: 9510040074
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: IRONTO LENGTH: Medium
Larry E. Myrick, 50, of Toccoa, Ga., was found Monday morning. Authorities believe he had been at the rest area a week. His truck's engine was running, the heat was on, and the radio was playing. The fuel tank was still half-full.
Deputies were called to the rest area, near the Montgomery County-Roanoke County line, about 9:30 by rest-area employees.
They found Myrick shirtless in the sleeping quarters of his cab. He apparently had been sitting up and may have crawled back there to make entries in his logbook or to rest.
Myrick drove for A & P Transportation Inc., based in Calhoun, Ga. He had started with the company last month and had passed a physical Sept. 7, Capt. O.P. Ramsey of the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office said.
Myrick was driving to New Jersey to deliver a load of carpet and should have arrived there Sept. 25.
His company canceled his gas card Sept. 26 after he failed to check in the day before as required, Ramsey said.
Troopers are encouraged to swing through interstate rest areas while on patrol, First Sgt. F.W. Duffy said Tuesday, to check the area and deter crime.
"There is a two-hour limit [for parking] ... but that's something that's almost impossible to enforce," Duffy said, because troopers cannot be sure how long a truck has been there unless they come through every two hours and note all the license plate numbers.
State police had received no calls alerting them to be on the lookout for Myrick.
"Nobody was looking for him," Duffy said.
Duffy said he routinely drives through the Ironto rest area while on his way to his Salem office. He even drove through Monday morning, "and I didn't see anything out of the ordinary."
Many truckers leave their engines running while parked at the rest area, he said.
Keywords:
FATALITY
by CNB