Missing Man Found Dead

A man missing since Sunday was found dead in a one-car accident south of Coeur d’Alene on Wednesday.

Gary Hayes, 42, was driving north on state Highway 3 when the pickup truck he was driving veered off the road at milepost 109. The GMC truck rolled down a 20-foot embankment; Hayes was thrown out.

As the pickup tumbled to a halt, it rolled over Hayes and killed him, said Capt. Ben Wolfinger of the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department. Hayes was not wearing his seat belt.

Hayes was reported missing from his home in Cataldo on Sunday by his sister-in-law, Mary Hayes. An Idaho Transportation Department crew reported the accident Wednesday.

Mary Hayes told deputies that Gary Hayes was last seen arguing with three men outside the Duck Inn, a bar in Medimont, Idaho. The deputies’ report went on to say the three men beat Gary Hayes “badly.”

But Wolfinger downplayed the report, saying there is no indication the fight and the accident are connected. , DataTimes