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Truck Driver’s Remains Identified

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Mitchell Ray Fulkner Earlier this week, we reported on a truck driver who lost his life in a crash.

On Friday, at approximately 5:30 p.m., a truck driver lost control of his truck while traveling south along Interstate 85 in Franklin County, Georgia, near exit 164.

Franklin County Sheriff Stevie Thomas said the truck ran off of the interstate, rolled and burst into flames, the Independent Mail reported.

By the time rescuers arrived, it was too late– the truck was consumed by fire.  The driver died at the scene.

Everything at the scene was charred beyond recognition, including the any identifiable information on the driver and the company he or she worked for.

The driver’s remains were sent to the GBI Crime Lab for identification.

“The DNA didn’t work because everything was burned so bad,” Thomas said. “The dental records also didn’t work, so we had to go another avenue.”

Crash scene investigators were able to find a vehicle identification number on the truck.  It has been traced to a materials supplier in Alabama.

“What we’re doing is we’re going to back track supposedly to the last drop the driver made and hopefully they will be able to tell us who the driver is. From there, we’re going to go sit down with his family in Alabama,” Thomas told the Independent Mail.

Yesterday, the driver’s remains were identified Forty-seven-year-old driver Mitchell Ray Fulkner.

Fulkner was a driver for Dairyman Supply, Inc. of Gadsen, Alabama.

Sheriff Thomas and his detectives worked the case backward.  Once the truck was traced to Dairyman Supply, the process of elimination helped them identify Fulkner as the driver who had perished.

“We took the photo from the driver’s license to the last stop he had made before the accident,” Thomas told the Independent Online. “The workers there positively identified him within seconds of seeing his photo.”

The employees told Thomas that Fulkner appeared to be well and didn’t appear to be sick or fatigued.

Despite the employees’ description of Fulkner that day, Thomas says authorities believe Fulkner may have suffered a heart attack or some other type of medical emergency.

Crash scene investigators said that Fulkner did not hit his brakes before he crashed into the ditch and struck two trees.

A witness to Fulkner’s crash said he ran to the truck, which was already engulfed in flames, and peered into the driver’s window but couldn’t see Fulkner in the driver’s seat.

Fulker’s remains have been turned over to his family.

Rest in peace, Mitchell Ray Fulkner.

Learn the symptoms of a stroke. Learn the symptoms of a heart attack.

 

 

 

 

 

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