On October 30, 2012, at approximately 4:30 p.m., Smith Brothers Trucking driver Raymond King of Chanute, Kan., was hauling a load of cattle from Minnesota to Chanute, Kansas.
While driving southbound on Locust Street in Grand Island, Nebraska, King began coughing and believes he passed out. “I just started coughing and I must have blacked out,” King told The Independent.
[pullquote align=”right”]”He must have blacked out because there was no correction in the tire tracks,” Arnold said. “If he would have been asleep or texting, there would be correction in the tracks.”[/pullquote]
King’s truck “hit the guardrail on the southbound lanes of the Platte River bridge on Locust Street, crossed the median and the northbound lanes and ran up the east bridge rail until the tires lifted off the roadway and the semi and trailer toppled into the riverbed on the east side of the Platte River bridge,” The Independent reported.
When he came to, his truck was out-of-control and crashing into a riverbank. “I heard the commotion (of the crash) and stood up,” he said.
King was hauling 35 cattle, 6 did not survive.
Grand Island Police Officer Scott Arnold investigated the crime scene. “He must have blacked out because there was no correction in the tire tracks,” Arnold said. “If he would have been asleep or texting, there would be correction in the tracks,” Arnold said.
King was uninjured in the crash.
While King is grateful to have survived the accident, he says he’s devastated that he lost his companion during the accident. King’s 9-year-old Jack Russell terrier went missing sometime during the accident.
“I’m going to lose my mind without that dog,” King said. “He’s white with brown floppy ears and a stub tail.”
The 9-year-old dog answers to the name “Jack Russell,” and he’s wearing a blue collar.
If you think you’ve seen this dog, please call King at (620) 305-8722.