Pickup Truck Driver Killed In Santa Cruz Mountains Identified
SANTA CLARA COUNTY (CBS SF) -- A man whose body was found inside a crashed pickup truck off of state Highway 9 in the Santa Cruz Mountains on Monday was identified by the Santa Clara County medical examiner's office Tuesday as 29-year-old Boulder Creek resident David Martinez.
Martinez was driving south on the highway north of Heather Heights Road on the western edge of Santa Clara County when his truck went off the western edge of the roadway, California Highway Patrol spokesman Chris Falkowski said.
His body found around 9:15 a.m. Monday, but it is unclear when the crash happened, as no witnesses have come forward.
Falkowski said it appears Martinez failed to negotiate a curve in the roadway and his 1998 Chevrolet Silverado pickup went off the pavement and tumbled 125 feet down a hillside, landing upside-down in a ravine.
The crash was discovered by Cal Fire employees on Monday morning after they noticed fresh skid marks leading off the roadway as they were responding to an unrelated incident, Falkowski said.
Firefighters went down the hillside and found the pickup truck with the man inside.
Cal Fire teamed up with Santa Clara County firefighters to use ropes to rappel down the slope to reach the man's body and recover it, Falkowski said.
Martinez's body was taken to the medical examiner's office, which has yet to release the results of an autopsy, an office spokeswoman said.
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