Polk County teenager found dead after accident

A 17-year-old Polk County teenager was found dead in his car after an accident on Tuesday.

State Highway Patrol trooper R.L. Cochran said that the investigation into the accident began as a missing person report.

When Joshua Dodson, 17, of Saulda did not return home Tuesday night, his mother began to worry and contacted authorities Wednesday morning when he did not show up for school, Cochran said.

“At 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, the Highway Patrol was dispatched to Holbert’s Cove Road,” Cochran said. “A passerby noticed a car off the side of the road and that is when we discovered the boy.”

Cochran said that speed was a factor in the accident, according to the highway patrol’s investigation.

“The boy was speeding, lost control of the vehicle and went over an embankment,” he said.

Dodson was found in his 1995 Geo Prizm. He was wearing his seatbelt and alcohol played no factor in Dodson’s accident, according to Cochran.