MARATHON, Fla. – A man died Saturday afternoon in a single-vehicle crash in Marathon, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office said.
First responders patrolling during lulls in Hurricane Irma found the man, whose name is being withheld pending notification of next of kin.
Recommended Videos
The man’s truck was wrapped around a tree near 98th Street and U.S. Highway 1. The man was dead inside.
Sheriff Rick Ramsay pulled regular patrols to avoid endangering his employees and decided he would lead a team himself to recover the body, sheriff's spokeswoman Becky Herrin said.
"I just felt we needed to try," Ramsay said in a news release. "We did not want to leave this man's body out there and I saw a lull in the storm that would allow us to go out there and get it safely."
A tow truck was found and the truck and body were removed to be evaluated after the storm.
The Florida Highway Patrol will investigate the crash when it is safe to do so.
It is unknown at this time if the crash was weather-related.