06-07-2005, 07:03 PM
BOTHELL, Washington (AP) -- Hours after a van parked on the side of a highway was rear-ended by a car and badly damaged, a tow truck driver found a man's corpse inside, authorities said.
A Washington State Patrol trooper apparently didn't notice the body of van owner David King, 52, after the accident early Sunday, authorities said. King's brother told the towing company his brother had called to say his van had broken down and he was going to sleep in the back.
"We made a mistake, and we're going to make sure it doesn't happen again," trooper Lance A. Ramsay said Monday.
An autopsy to determine the time and cause of death was pending, and until those results are known authorities cannot say whether King might have survived had his presence been discovered earlier, Ramsay said.
The episode began about 4 a.m. Sunday with a report that an abandoned Ford van had been struck by a car along Interstate 405 northeast of Seattle.
A trooper did an inventory, which generally consists of a check for valuables inside vehicles involved in collisions, Ramsay said.
About 15 hours later, Sky Valley Tow in this Seattle suburb got a call from King's brother and a driver found the body, company owner Scott Zachry said.
"He was in a sleeping bag, and somebody looking into the vehicle wouldn't necessarily see anything, really," Zachry said. The brother had told the company about King's plan to sleep in the van, he said.
The van apparently was hit "very, very hard," Zachry said.
The trooper has not been placed on leave, and Ramsay didn't know how long he'd been with the patrol.
A Washington State Patrol trooper apparently didn't notice the body of van owner David King, 52, after the accident early Sunday, authorities said. King's brother told the towing company his brother had called to say his van had broken down and he was going to sleep in the back.
"We made a mistake, and we're going to make sure it doesn't happen again," trooper Lance A. Ramsay said Monday.
An autopsy to determine the time and cause of death was pending, and until those results are known authorities cannot say whether King might have survived had his presence been discovered earlier, Ramsay said.
The episode began about 4 a.m. Sunday with a report that an abandoned Ford van had been struck by a car along Interstate 405 northeast of Seattle.
A trooper did an inventory, which generally consists of a check for valuables inside vehicles involved in collisions, Ramsay said.
About 15 hours later, Sky Valley Tow in this Seattle suburb got a call from King's brother and a driver found the body, company owner Scott Zachry said.
"He was in a sleeping bag, and somebody looking into the vehicle wouldn't necessarily see anything, really," Zachry said. The brother had told the company about King's plan to sleep in the van, he said.
The van apparently was hit "very, very hard," Zachry said.
The trooper has not been placed on leave, and Ramsay didn't know how long he'd been with the patrol.
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