State police are investigating a fatal single-car wreck that claimed the life of a local driver early September 16. James Patrick Morris, 49, died after his vehicle ran off the road and flipped into a swamp in Oil Creek Township.
Investigating officers reported that Morris was traveling north along Mystic Park Road around 12:20 a.m. As he passed north of Kinsack Road, his vehicle failed to negotiate a curve in the road and left the eastern shoulder.
The car hit a large rock sitting near the treeline. The collision sent the vehicle airborne into a tree, causing severe damage to the body of the car.
After hitting the tree, the vehicle overturned and landed upside down in a nearby body of swamp water. The cabin quickly filled with water off the side of the rural roadway.
Emergency crews rushed to the scene after receiving the emergency dispatch call. Rescuers managed to reach the car, but Morris sustained fatal injuries from the initial impact and submerged rollover.
Mystic Park Road features several sharp turns with no streetlights or guardrails along the marshy terrain. Local authorities often remind drivers to slow down when navigating these rural back roads at night.
Troopers from the Pennsylvania State Police Corry barracks completed the preliminary crash report. The official cause of the wreck remains an unnegotiated left curve leading to an off-road rollover collision.
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