Local teen dies in 1-vehicle crash
BAINBRIDGE -- A Bainbridge teenager died in a one-vehicle crash on C.R. 800N Tuesday when his pickup careened off the side of the road and overturned in three feet of water at the bottom of an embankment.
According to Deputy Don Pettit of the Putnam County Sheriff's Department, 16-year-old Blake Batchelor had been traveling east on the gravel road, about one half mile west of C.R. 500E, when he lost control of his 1990 Chevrolet S-10.
"He was traveling eastbound and, for some unknown reason, veered off the north side of the roadway," Pettit said. "He overcorrected and went back across the road to the south side and then went down an embankment where's there's a big drainage whistle.
"The vehicle overturned and went down into a creek, which was filled up with water. The truck was partially submerged in about three feet of water," he added.
The exact time of the accident was unknown, but could have been as early as shortly before 10 a.m. The call to 911 dispatch of the vehicle's discovery didn't come until 5:37 p.m.
"Some family members are actually the ones who located him and called it in," Pettit said. "He was last heard from about 9:41 this morning when he was on his way home. Some time after that, give or take 10 minutes, may have been when the accident happened."
Pettit said it was reported that Batchelor was on his way home from football conditioning at North Putnam High School.
The cause of death was unknown as of Tuesday evening, pending an autopsy.
Roachdale Fire Department and PMH1 ambulance service both responded to the accident. Police officers on the scene were Pettit, Jon Chadd, Greg Slover and Ron Campbell of the sheriff's department and Jason Woodall of the Bainbridge Police Department.