RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — A truck driver who died after his tractor-trailer crashed into an overpass on Interstate 85 in Hillsborough in September died of multiple blunt-forced trauma, an autopsy stated.
The N.C. Office of the Chief Medical Examiner released the report Wednesday.
It stated that the manner of 51-year-old Daniel Eugene McNeal’s death was an accident.
A toxicology report found that McNeal had four-times the legal limit of alcohol in his system.
Acute ethanol intoxication contributed to his death, according to the autopsy.
The report stated that surveillance video had captured McNeal buying alcohol at a convenience store while on his route.
The report further noted that McNeal was believed to have been traveling with another person. However, only one set of human remains were found at the site of the crash. McNeal’s dog, Blu, also died in the wreck.
The family of a missing Virginia woman believed she may have died in the crash.
They told CBS 17 in September that 25-year-old Alyssa Taylor had begun a trip from Virginia to North Carolina with McNeal in his tractor-trailer on Sept. 13. He was delivering chicken and Taylor wanted to get out of town for a few days, they said.
Family members had reported her missing to the Accomack County, Va., Sheriff’s Office on Sept. 20, one week after her mother last received a message from her.
A search of the Sampson County landfill in late September by the N.C. Highway Patrol turned up nothing.
The fiery wreck happened around 3 a.m. on Sept. 14 and closed the southbound lanes of I-85 near N.C. 86 for about 12 hours.
Neither Taylor, nor her remains have been located.