by Don Richeson –
A pickup slammed into a tree along a Middlesex County road apparently sometime in the evening of Tuesday, Jan. 11, but authorities did not discover the truck and its deceased driver until the early morning hours of Wednesday, Jan. 12. The driver, Christopher Lee Cook, 35, of Kilmarnock, died upon impact, according to a news release by Virginia State Police (VSP) Sgt. Michelle Anaya.
The 2003 Ford F-150 was southbound on Forest Chapel Road (Route 614) at a high rate of speed when it ran off the road. The driver had apparently overcorrected, causing the truck to cross the centerline and exit the road in its 700 block, just south of Lovers Retreat Lane.
Cook was the sole occupant and no other vehicles were involved.
VSP investigators learned a Middlesex witness-homeowner heard a crash at approximately 9 p.m. Jan. 11, but was apparently unsure of the crash’s exact location. The stretch of Forest Chapel Road where the crash occurred is not heavily traveled and there were apparently no passersby that immediately noticed the crashed truck. A trooper located the crashed truck at approximately 4:40 a.m. Jan. 12 and noted at that time the truck’s engine block was cold.
Cook was not wearing his seatbelt at the time of the crash. There is no indication that alcohol was a contributing factor.
It was the first fatal crash of the year in Middlesex County.
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