Police found an abandoned, crashed motorcycle near Suitland Parkway and Stanton Road SE on Oct. 17, but it took until the next day for officers to locate its rider. By then, 18-year-old Francisco Benavides of Southeast D.C. had no signs of life.
According to the Metropolitan Police Department, a preliminary investigation determined that the motorcycle's operator was traveling at an accelerated speed when he lost control and struck a guardrail, which threw him from the bike. The riderless motorcycle kept going after that, coming to rest in a ditch along the 2600 block of Pomeroy Road SE, MPD said in a release. Officers discovered the wrecked motorcycle near Suitland Parkway and Stanton Road SE on Oct. 17, but Benavides himself was not found until the following day, according to Daily Voice.
MPD reported that Benavides was found unconscious and not breathing on Sunday, Oct. 18, with no signs of life. D.C. Fire and EMS personnel responded to the scene and pronounced him dead there, per the same account. The gap between when the motorcycle was spotted and when Benavides himself was located has not been explained in the information released so far.
A Stretch of Road With a Troubled Recent History
The crash adds to a string of serious incidents along Suitland Parkway, a 9.1-mile limited-access federal highway maintained by the National Park Service. Last month, a multi-vehicle pileup near the D.C. line left two people critically injured and sent eight others to hospitals for evaluation, Hoodline previously reported in its coverage of the September crashes. A February fatal two-vehicle collision near Stanton Road SE killed 53-year-old Waldorf resident Darwin Thomas and injured two others. In a separate crash, a motorcyclist was killed near Sheridan Road after officers found him unconscious on the roadway.
MPD has investigated other fatal motorcycle crashes in the District in recent years, including one in Southeast in July 2025 and another involving a motorcycle in Northwest in August 2024. Vision Zero DC, the city's traffic-safety initiative, has pointed to national figures showing 5,014 motorcyclist deaths in 2019 alone, and the agency continues to urge drivers and motorcyclists to share the road and stay alert.
Investigation Continues, Police Seek Tips
MPD says the crash that killed Benavides remains under investigation. Anyone with information has been asked to contact police at (202) 727-9099 or to submit a tip by text to 50411.
