GREENE COUNTY, TENNESSEE — The Tennessee Highway Patrol is asking the public for help identifying and locating the driver of a white bobtail day cab semi-truck who stopped briefly after a crash on southbound Interstate 81 in Greene County, examined his truck, and then drove away, leaving behind a 74-year-old man who had been ejected and killed and a 73-year-old woman who was airlifted with serious injuries.
THP responded to the crash near mile marker 18 just after 1 p.m. Sunday. The preliminary investigation indicates a grey 2020 Nissan Murano driven by Lee Vaughn, 74, was traveling southbound when it swerved into the lane of the white bobtail semi, which was not pulling a trailer. The Murano’s front right tire struck the semi’s left rear tire, causing the Murano to lift off the roadway and overturn multiple times before coming to rest on the left shoulder.
Vaughn was not wearing a seatbelt and was ejected during the rollover. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The passenger, a 73-year-old woman, suffered serious injuries and was airlifted to Johnson City Medical Center.
The semi driver pulled onto the right shoulder after the crash, got out, examined his truck, then drove away. No vehicle registration information is available for the truck. Witnesses on scene were unable to provide identifying information about the vehicle or driver. Charges are pending the outcome of THP’s investigation.
Anyone with information about the semi-truck or its driver is asked to call THP at *847 or 423-348-6144. Ask to have information directed to Trooper Robert Anderson, Sgt. Jonathan Scott of THP Criminal Investigations Division, or Trooper Michael Hall of THP Criminal Investigations Division.
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