A Marietta man was killed Monday morning while traveling to his house on Lake Sinclair, authorities say.
Richard Leon Henderson, 70, died when his vehicle left the road and crashed into trees at about 11:30 a.m., according to Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills. A nearby resident heard the crash and went to find the source and then called 911 upon seeing the wreckage, Sills explained.
“The impact was so significant it knocked the engine out of the vehicle,” Sills said, adding that “Mr. Henderson was dead on the scene when EMS arrived.”
Henderson’s wife told authorities she believed he was on his way to their lake house on South Steel Bridge Road in Putnam County. According to Deputy Jim Barbee’s investigation, Henderson was driving a 2020 Kia Sportage on the Shady Dale Road. As he came to a curve in the road, just west of Beaver Dam Road, his vehicle left the roadway, went down a slope and into the wood line, and collided with several trees.
The cause of the wreck is still being investigated, Sills said.