The crash was reported by a resident the previous night. In a 9-1-1 call, the resident said, “It sounded like somebody was going really, really fast … I heard this swishing noise and then a loud crash.”
RELATED: Deputy who missed Clark County double-fatal crash didn’t get out of cruiser
A Clark County Sheriff’s deputy responded that night but couldn’t find the crash and left the scene. The car was found the following morning on its top in a thick treeline in a creek bed by the neighbor who called 9-1-1 the night before.
“The men died from brain injuries and blunt force trauma,” Clark County Coroner Dr. Richard A. Marsh. “Alcohol and drugs did not contribute to the crash.”
Neither man’s body had any findings of hypothermia, Marsh also said.
The Ohio State Highway Patrol said Standifer was driving south on Funderburg Road when he lost control, went left of center and drove off the right side of the road, later hitting rocks and trees before landing in the creek.
Maj. Chris Clark of the Clark County Sheriff’s Office has previously said it was difficult to locate the crash scene because the car was in a wooded area and because it was found on its top with about six inches of water in the creek.
The deputy who responded didn’t get out of the cruiser. That also meant there was no body camera video from the scene because deputies’ cameras are turned on when they exit the cruiser.
Clark County Sheriff Deb Burchett declined to comment on Tuesday and referred all questions about the crash to the Ohio State Highway Patrol.
Lt. Brian Aller, commander of the state patrol’s Springfield post, said the case is still active and under investigation at this time.
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