Search for Indiana man ends tragically
I knew this man,and know he was leaving a company New Years eve party,this is the second time they have lost an employee for the same thing,last time was Jan.1,2000.
SCOTTSBURG, IN (WAVE) - Officers spent 12 hours New Year's Day searching for a Scott County man who crashed his truck and left the vehicle.
Scott County Sheriff John Lizenby said officers found the body of 41-year-old Robert Jude Stewart in a field immediately after a helicopter conducted an aerial search.
"This is tragic," Sheriff Lizenby said. "When you are hoping to get through the holidays without anything terrible happening and this happens, it kind of ruins the spirit of the whole thing."
Authorities said Stewart had called his family to say he had crashed his truck. Stewart apparently left the vehicle after the crash and couldn't be found.
Lizenby says Stewart was driving on Boatman Road when he crashed into a creek, flipping his truck.
"My understanding of it is some family members were trying to get him to come out to the road," Lizenby said. "For whatever reason, he just didn't."
Instead, Lizenby said Stewart ended up far from his truck, on the other side of the road in a wooded area. As officers and family searched for Stewart, Lizenby expressed hope he would be found alive,
"We were just hoping that maybe he had too much Christmas cheer and he just didn't want to get himself in trouble and hopefully he had somebody pick him up," Lizenby said.
Lizenby said they are looking into whether alcohol played any role in this accident. Lizenby says a lot of factors could have been involved. For example: the temperature was hitting the teens and Stewart told his family members was wet because of the creek.
"You can easily become disoriented," Lizenby said. "It wouldn't necessarily be alcohol-related."
A family members says Stewart has a young daughter and a teenage son.
The cause of death was under investigation.
