An Illinois man died early Thursday, Oct. 8, after he was apparently struck by a vehicle along U.S. Highway 84, about three miles west of downtown Bainbridge, according to the Decatur County Sheriff’s Office.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, Louis J. Kirsteatter Jr., 57, of Bloomington, Illinois, was found dead next to a ditch on the 2100 block of U.S. Highway 84.
Kirsteatter’s body was discovered around 4:15 a.m. Thursday morning, after a semi-trailer truck driver called 911 to report it, according to Sheriff’s Investigator Terry Phillips. Kirsteatter is believed to have been struck at about 3:30 a.m.
Phillips said the truck driver “felt a bump” but wasn’t sure what it was until he arrived at his destination, the Georgia Pacific Plant in Cedar Springs, Ga. The driver checked his truck and was alarmed to find blood, so he drove back to Decatur County to meet with Sheriff’s deputies.
Sheriff’s deputies aren’t certain whether or not another vehicle struck Kirsteatter before the semi-trailer truck ran over him in the outer westbound lane of U.S. 84, Phillips said.
“Based on our examination of the evidence, we believe it’s possible that the victim may have been lying in the road before he was struck by the semi truck driver–either he had already been struck or possibly he could have fallen asleep or passed out,” the investigator said.
The semi-trailer truck driver was given a blood alcohol content test and the results showed he was not driving impaired, Phillips said. The Decatur County Coroner’s Office and Grady EMS also responded to the accident site.
Sheriff’s deputies have another clue as to what may have happened–Bainbridge Public Safety found Kirsteatter’s car crashed along Broad Street in downtown Bainbridge on Thursday morning. Investigators believe that Kirsteatter crashed his vehicle and then began walking west on U.S. 84 / Dothan Road.
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