A bicyclist is dead after being struck by a vehicle that fled the scene on U.S. Highway 19E near Roan Mountain, and investigators are now asking the public to help track down the truck involved. The Tennessee Highway Patrol believes the vehicle is a silver 2015–2020 Ford F-150 that may be carrying damage to its right-front area, and the crash is believed to have happened sometime overnight between 10 p.m. Thursday and 7 a.m. Friday near the Buck Mountain Road intersection.
Carter County Sheriff Mike Fraley confirmed to WJHL that a person died following the crash involving a pickup truck and a bicyclist in Roan Mountain. According to the station, THP is asking for help identifying the vehicle and driver involved in the fatal hit-and-run, and preliminary information points to a silver F-150 striking the cyclist on 19E near Buck Mountain Road.
Truck May Show Front-End Damage
Investigators believe the truck may have sustained damage to its right-front area, according to the Tennessee Highway Patrol's search for the vehicle, as reported by WCYB. The station's report notes that anyone with information about the truck or its driver is asked to contact the Tennessee Highway Patrol's Emergency Dispatch Communications Center at (865) 895-6950, extension 0. The Tennessee Highway Patrol has publicly encouraged anyone with information to come forward as the search for the driver continues.
Second Deadly Crash On The Same Stretch In Months
This marks the second fatal crash involving cyclists along a stretch of Highway 19E less than 10 miles long in roughly two months, per the same WCYB account. The earlier crash on that stretch killed two Milligan University students, Haylan Engdahl and Brayden Rogers, and injured nine other cyclists, according to the outlet's reporting.
The back-to-back tragedies have renewed safety concerns along the corridor, which runs through the Roan Mountain area of Carter County. No further details about the bicyclist killed in this latest crash have been released, and the driver and vehicle remain unidentified as the investigation continues.
