WILMINGTON, NC (WECT) - Highway patrol officials found the victim of a serious car accident two days after the crash happened.
An anonymous tip led troopers to David Lee Marley Jr. at a residence, according to First Sgt. Pope.
Troopers are taking him to the hospital because he needs medical attention and hasn't received it yet. They say he told them he didn't need medical attention, but it's part of their investigation.
Pope wasn't sure of the extent of his injuries.
Marley faces charges of driving with a revoked license, reckless driving and leaving the scene of an accident. Other charges are pending.
Someone driving on River Road spotted the overturned vehicle Monday night and called 911.
"I'm on River Road shortly past the park, past Cathay Road, and I was on my way home from work and there's a car that looks like it ran off the road and into the marsh right here," explained the caller.
Troopers say a man hit a cable box along River Road near Cathay Road around 9:00 p.m. Monday. They believe his car went airborne, overturned and landed in the marsh.
"It looks like someone ran off the road," the caller told 911 operators. "There's dirt everywhere like someone lost control, ran off the road, ran into the ditch across the driveway and over into the river/water."
The caller told 911 operators the vehicle looked like a white work van. He said he couldn't tell if anybody was in the van because it was deep into the marsh.
When authorities arrived, they found the vehicle, but no driver. They believe the person was thrown from the vehicle. Troopers were able to confirm the victim was not wearing a seatbelt.
A search team, including the fire department and the SABLE helicopter, looked for the victim for nearly 24 hours. They also searched the area with cadaver dogs from Brunswick County Search and Rescue with no luck.
The search at the scene was called off Tuesday evening around 7:30 p.m. Troopers said they felt like they have exhausted all efforts at River Road to find the victim.
"It is a bad wreck when you look at the car itself," said First Sgt. Troy Pope. "Stranger things have happened. Sometimes you go to wrecks and they seem very minor in nature and they will turn out to be a traffic fatality. Then you will go to ones that look very severe like this and the person gets up and walks away."
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Someone driving on River Road spotted the overturned vehicle Monday night and called 911. (Source: Anonymous)
When authorities arrived, they found the vehicle, but no driver. (Source: Anonymous)
Search crews use a cadaver dog to search the marsh.
The driver smashed into a cable box and went airborne.
Search crews use a cadaver dog to search for a missing driver.
