Grove Man Dies From Cold Snap Accident

Associated Press

GROVE, Okla. (AP) -- A 71-year-old Grove man has died from what authorities say were injuries he suffered after trying to drive a van down a hill covered in ice.

Floyd B. Tracy became the sixth person in Oklahoma to die in the last three days as a result of winter weather that initially hit the state on Monday.

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol says Tracy was driving on a county road northwest of Grove at about 3 p.m. Tuesday when his van left the roadway and traveled about 176 feet with the tires off the roadway.

The van then struck a culvert and traveled another 44 feet before coming to rest in a ditch.

Troopers say Tracy initially walked away from the accident and that a person picked him up and drove him to Tracy's residence. Shortly after that, Tracy went to a neighbor's house, complaining that he wasn't feeling well.

Tracy was taken first to a nearby emergency room, then by ambulance to a Joplin, Missouri, hospital, where the OHP says he died from a trunk internal injury.