North Carolina: When his GPS directed him to a bridge that had been collapsed in 2013, a father from North Carolina perished shortly after his daughter’s ninth birthday party.
On September 30, Phil Paxson travelled home from his daughter’s celebration in Hickory, North Carolina, on a “dark and wet night,” according to a post made on Facebook by his mother-in-law Linda McPhoee Koeing on October 3.
She said, “He was using his GPS, which sent him down a concrete road to a bridge that plummeted off into a river. Nine years ago, the bridge was destroyed and never reconstructed”.
According to Koeing, there were no “barriers or warning signs to avoid the death of a 47-year-old father of two girls” on the bridge.
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“He will be greatly missed by his family and friends. It was a totally preventable accident. We are grieving his death,” she wrote.
His widow, Alicia Paxson, posted pictures of the bridge on her Facebook page and lamented that her husband’s passing was “an unnecessary tragedy” in one of her posts. She also provided links to news from 2014 about families calling for the bridge to be fixed.
“This risk was well understood. 2014 is only a disaster waiting to happen. It took Phil’s death to raise notice, “She went on.
The morning of October 1, according to the North Carolina State Highway Patrol, an automobile was spotted in a creek, according to Charlotte, North Carolina’s NBC affiliate WCNC. When the police came, Phil’s 2020 Jeep Gladiator was upside down and submerged.
The state’s highway patrol reported that there had previously been barricades to alert motorists about the problematic bridge, but that they appeared to have been moved.
Authorities have discovered Phil’s body inside the car, and they think the collision occurred at 11 p.m. on Friday.
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The bridge washed away, according to Queen City News, in 2013.
“How come this hasn’t happened in nine years, and why did it have to be him?” Alicia asked the outlet a question. “Like, why do my children have to be without a father right now? Who is accountable? Someone is in charge.”
She described how they celebrated their daughter’s birthday with a cookout at a friend’s home on that fateful evening.
When the time came to leave, she recalled, “we packed up all the decorations, he packed the van, and he loaded the girls into the van.” “He made a mistake by turning left while I turned right. He took a wrong turn and is now lost.”
Furthermore, a family acquaintance revealed to the magazine, “They may have been the cause. The girls might have been to blame. Thank God they weren’t driving together that night; they typically do.”
According to QC News, the North Carolina State Patrol claimed that neither municipal nor state authorities were in charge of the bridge, indicating who should be held accountable. The developer’s company had previously been dissolved, the Secretary of State stated on its website.
The initial developer’s former owner, a property management company, met with their legal team earlier this week, according to QC News.
A request for comment from PEOPLE was not immediately answered by the North Carolina Highway State Patrol.
A GoFundMe effort to pay for his burial costs has nearly reached its $50,000 target.
According to his obituary, Phil is survived by his wife, their two daughters, his parents, two sisters, a sister-in-law, and a large number of nieces and nephews.
He loved dirt motorcycles, boats, muscle cars, and “basically anything with a motor,” the statement continued, “and this sweet family lost a fantastic father, husband, son, and son-in-law.”
“Phil prioritised his family above all else and his friends close behind. He was enormous, always up for an adventure, and always had a smile on his face. He would give you the shirt off his back or convince you not to give you one “In part, it stated.
His memorial service is scheduled for Saturday, October 8 in the afternoon.
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