A red Dodge pickup truck left Little Indian Creek Road near Woodbine last Friday night and overturned in the creek below, and members of the Knox County Rescue Squad had to wade into the water to confirm the driver was dead inside the cab. Knox County Coroner Mike Blevins pronounced 9William Hundley dead at the scene at 9:44 p.m. Toxicology results are still pending as part of a broader investigation.
According to The Times-Tribune, Kentucky State Police received a report of a possible fatal accident around 8:41 p.m. that evening and responded to the single-vehicle crash in Knox County. Shane Jacobs, the public information officer for KSP Post 10, has served as a point of contact for the case, per the outlet's reporting. Additional scene details, including the water rescue entry and the identities of responding personnel, were first reported by WRIL-FM.
Per WRIL-FM's account, the emergency response drew in KSP Troopers Ben Meadows and Brian Nantz, Sergeant Bobby Roberts, the Knox County Sheriff's Office, and the Knox County Rescue Squad, with Trooper Meadows serving as lead investigator on the case. Trooper Nantz joined KSP Post 10 after graduating from the KSP Training Academy in August 2023 as part of Cadet Class 103, a group that added 51 new troopers statewide, according to the Harlan Enterprise.
A Rural Road With a History of Danger
Little Indian Creek Road is a rural roadway near Woodbine that connects the Corbin area to Route 6 and Barbourville, according to a Realtor.com listing describing the local road network. KSP Post 10, headquartered in Harlan, holds primary state law enforcement jurisdiction across Bell, Harlan, and Knox counties, per the Kentucky State Police. The post also runs periodic traffic safety checkpoints across the three-county district targeting impaired driving, seatbelt non-compliance, and equipment violations in high-crash corridors, the agency has said.
This is not the first fatal crash KSP Post 10 troopers have investigated in Knox County in recent years. The agency previously investigated a fatal collision on SE Business Drive in Corbin on July 24, 2025, roughly a year before Friday's crash.
What Remains Unknown
Investigators have not said what caused the pickup to leave the roadway, whether Hundley was wearing a seatbelt, or what the pending toxicology results will show. KSP's investigation remains ongoing.
Kentucky Transportation Cabinet crash analysis shows that roughly 61% of the state's fatal motor vehicle accidents occur on rural roads, with single-vehicle run-off-road incidents representing a primary mechanism of fatal injury. That trend has worsened recently: preliminary estimates from the National Safety Council showed Kentucky traffic fatalities rose 11% through May 2026 compared with the same five-month stretch in 2025.
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