Multiple Accidents on I-79, One Dead

A man was found dead in an SUV along Interstate 79 north near Star City, West Virginia Thursday morning. The same evening one person was taken to the hospital after an accident on Interstate 79 south in Bridgeport, West Virginia.

Monongalia County sheriff’s deputies were called to the scene at mile marker 157, at 7:26 a.m. They found the driver of a 2004 Yukon Denali, Geremiah Giles, 28 of Waynesburg, Pa., dead in the drivers’ seat. Investigators believe that at some time Wednesday night Giles was driving north on I-79 when he ran off the right side of the road and hit a large rock. Giles, who was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the accident, was pronounced dead at the scene. Deputies are still investigating.

Thursday evening police say that as an SUV was attempting to pass a tractor-trailer, just before the rest stop at the mile marker 124, it was cut off by a car. The SUV ran off the roadway, overcorrected its steering wheel and hit the front of the semi. While the car never stopped at the scene, the passenger in the SUV was transported to United Hospital Center. The accident shut down both lanes of traffic, forcing cars onto the shoulder to alternate routes through Bridgeport.