The body of a man who accidentally drove his car off the I-55 highway and into a creek was recovered on Friday, March 2.
The driver, 20-year-old DeQuan Crawford, called Arkansas State Police for help as he was standing on top of his submerged vehicle, NBC affiliate WMC reported. According to a family member, he told them he couldn’t swim.
Authorities said Crawford drove into Big Creek, just south of Turrel, at around 3:30 a.m. on Thursday, Mar. 1.
He was driving home from his job at the Nike distribution center in Memphis, according to CBS affiliate WREG-TV.
When emergency crews arrived at the scene on Thursday, however, they couldn’t find Crawford. Using a magnet, investigators did manage to locate his car in the creek. But he was not inside.
Crawford’s body was not found until the next morning.
TRAGIC UPDATE:
Dequan Crawford's body has been located, according to the sheriff.The coroner has been called to the creek, where family and friends are gathered.
To all those who knew Quan, I'm so incredibly sorry for your loss. Y'all are in so many people's prayers. pic.twitter.com/LGF6v0yfq4
— Zach Crenshaw (@ZachCFOX13) March 2, 2018
“He was just loving, a loving kid,” Cynthia Holloway, Crawford’s mother, told WREG-TV. “Everybody loved him. People he went to school with, played ball with, he was just all around well liked.”
Cythnia said the last text she sent her son was “please be careful,” a phrase which she sent him every night. Crawford replied with the same response “yes, ma’am.”
“[He was a] good guy. Never got into trouble,” one of Crawford’s cousins told FOX13.
THE LAST TEXT:
Quan's mother, Cynthia, texted him less than two hours before he crashed.
"Please be careful on your way home."
"Yes ma'm," he replied.Due to heavy rain & darkness, he lost control on I-55 & ended up in Big Creek.
I will post updates in the morning. pic.twitter.com/955eH53XWr
— Zach Crenshaw (@ZachCFOX13) March 2, 2018
“He liked to laugh, joke a lot,” another cousin said.
Crawford’s family think weather may have caused the crash.
“Most likely ‘cause it was raining and so you never know ‘cause we don’t know everything that happened,” his aunt Tarsha Ceaser told WREG.
Cynthia and her son’s step-father showed up at the accident scene where they waited for hours hoping for his rescue.
They were not alone. Dozens of friends and family members, including Turrell Mayor Dorothy Cooper, were also there.
“Turrell is comprised of 656 citizens,” Cooper told WMC. “When one hurts, we all hurt. We came together in this time of sorrow. This is a sad situation.”
On Thursday night before the body had been found, Crawford’s family formed a circle and held each tightly as the grim reality set in.
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