NKyTribune staff
The body of a man missing since Saturday from an accident scene on the southbound Mt. Zion Road exit ramp from Interstate 75 has been found near the crash site by family members.
Florence police say the body was located in an area that had been previously searched by police and family members, but was concealed by brush and cattails in a ditch.
Police responded to the rollover accident that occurred at approximately 2:20 a.m. on Saturday and a witness advised them that two males exited the vehicle after the crash and were picked up by another car, which left the scene.
There was no indication from witnesses that another person was in the 2006 Scion TC involved in the crash. Police searched the roadway at that time, but did not find anything and closed the investigation.
Boone County Sheriff’s Department officers went to the address the car was registered to, but were unable to make contact with anyone.
Florence Police returned to the scene after a missing persons report was filed and searched both sides of the roadway, but were still unable to locate anyone.
Family members continued to search the area of the crash for several days and shortly after 3 p.m. Tuesday, located Sanchez’s body.
The Florence Police Accident Team is investigating the incident and is trying to locate the other occupants of the vehicle. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Florence Police Department at (859) 647-5420.
Florence Police released the following statement regarding the incident:
On 12/13/16 at approximately 3:14 P.M. the Florence Police Department responded to the I75 southbound exit ramp to Mt. Zion Rd. for a report of a body found off of the roadway. The body was located by family members who had reported the person missing on 12/11/16 to the Boone County Sheriff’s Department.
It appears that the missing person was an occupant in a vehicle that was involved in a rollover accident at that same location. The accident occurred on 12/10/16 at approximately 2:20 A.M. Florence Police officers responded to that accident scene and located a 2006 Scion TC severely damaged and unoccupied in the middle of the exit ramp. A witness advised that after the accident two males exited the vehicle and were then picked up by an unknown vehicle leaving the scene. There was no indication from witnesses that there may have been a third occupant in the vehicle. Florence Police officers at that time searched both sides of the roadway but were unable to locate anything and completed an accident investigation.
The Boone County Sheriff’s Department were sent to the address of the owner of the vehicle but were not able to make contact with anyone at the residence. The following evening after a missing person’s report was conducted the Florence Police Department responded back to the exit ramp and searched both sides of the ramp but were unable to locate anything. According to family members, they continued to search the exit ramp for several days and on 12/13/16 at around 3:14 P.M. they located the missing person’s body. The body was off of the exit ramp in a ditch concealed behind some brush and cattails. The family identified the body as:
Diego Suarez Sanchez, 25 years old, Florence, KY
The Florence Police Department’s Accident Team is currently investigating the incident and are trying to locate the other occupants that were in the vehicle at the time of the accident.
