On Sept. 30, Phil Paxson become heading domestic after his daughter’s party in Hickory, North Carolina, on a “dark and rainy night time,” his mom-in-regulation Linda McPhoee Koeing shared on Facebook on Oct. 3. “He changed into following his GPS which led him down a concrete avenue to a bridge that dropped off right into a river,” she persevered.

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“The bridge were destroyed 9 years ago and never repaired.”

Koeing stated that the bridge also didn’t have any “boundaries or caution symptoms to prevent the loss of life of a forty seven-year-old father of daughters.”

“He may be greatly neglected through his circle of relatives and friends. It turned into a completely preventable twist of fate. We are grieving his loss of life,” she wrote.

His widow, Alicia Paxson, shared photographs of the bridge on her personal Facebook page, mentioning in a single post that her husband’s dying became “an avoidable tragedy.”

She additionally shared articles that date returned to 2014 about families urging the bridge to be fixed.

“This became a acknowledged danger. 2014!! Just an twist of fate waiting to show up. Phil had to lose his lifestyles to deliver consciousness,” she persisted.

The North Carolina State Highway Patrol stated it was alerted to a car in a creek on the morning of Oct. 1, Charlotte, North Carolina’s NBC affiliate WCNC said.

Officers arrived to locate that Phil’s 2020 Jeep Gladiator had flipped upside down and became underwater.

The state’s dual carriageway patrol said that barricades to warn drivers approximately the defective bridge had been formerly there, however they appeared to were moved.

Phil’s frame turned into recovered from in the automobile and government accept as true with the twist of fate happened at 11 p.M. On Friday.

According to Queen City News, the bridge had washed away again in 2013.

“How is it nine years that this did now not take place, and why did it ought to be him?” Alicia wondered to the outlet.

“Like, why do my kids need to don’t have any dad now, you recognize? Who’s accountable? Somebody is accountable.”

She shared how on that fateful night time, that they had a barbeque at a chum’s house for their daughter’s birthday.

“When it changed into time to go, we packed up all of the decorations, he packed up the van, and he loaded the women into the van,” she stated.

“He took a left, and I took a right, and that changed into his mistake. One incorrect flip, and now he’s long past.”

One family buddy additionally told the outlet, “It might have been them. It might have been the ladies. Usually, all of them force together and thank God that night they had been not.”

When it comes to who is in charge, the North Carolina State Patrol stated the bridge became not controlled through neighborhood or country officials, in line with QC News.

The Secretary of State said thru its website that the developer’s business enterprise changed into previously dissolved.

A property control agency, whose previous proprietor turned into the initial developer, sat down with their criminal team earlier this week, QC News said.

The North Carolina Highway State Patrol did no longer at once reply to people’s request for remark.

A GoFundMe campaign for his funeral services has raised almost half of its $50,000 intention.

Phil leaves behind his spouse and their two daughters, as well as his mother and father, sisters, a sister-in-regulation, and a bunch of nieces and nephews, his obituary shared. “This valuable circle of relatives misplaced a wonderful father, husband, son, and son-in-law,” it brought, noting his love for dust motorcycles, boats, muscle automobiles, and “truely anything with a motor.”

“Phil put his circle of relatives first and his buddies, almost equal, 2d.

He changed into larger than existence, constantly geared up for an journey, with a everlasting smile on his face, he might give you the blouse off his again or speak you out of the one on yours,” it stated in component. His party of existence is scheduled for the afternoon of Saturday, Oct. Eight.

— Sandra Estok (@SandraEstok) October 7, 2022