Found Deceased NC - Gregory Thomas, 30, driving to work in heavy rain, Wendell, Wake Co, 17 Mar 2022

[athenna]

They pulled a dark grey sedan out. Prayers for the family.

 

[mlhenn]

Rescue call closes part of New Bern Ave. near I-440 in Raleigh | CBS 17

By 7:15 p.m. a tow truck was backed up to the woods and appeared to be trying to pull a vehicle from the area. A larger flatbed tow truck was later brought to the same location.

At least two Raleigh police officers could be seen in the woods off the road.


Authorities: Search on New Bern Ave. in Raleigh is linked to Wendell man's disappearance :: WRAL.com

Hours after fire trucks, ambulances and Raleigh Police Department vehicles blocked lanes of eastbound New Bern Avenue Sunday afternoon, authorities told WRAL News that the search there was related to the disappearance of a Wendell man.

A woman told WRAL News that she saw dogs searching in the woods alongside the heavily-traveled route.

 

[sloothseeker]

They pulled a dark grey sedan out. Prayers for the family.

appeared to be upside down when first pulled out. Supposedly on the other side of road than his last known direction of travel. Just wondering how no one saw the car crash into the woods. That's a heavy traveled road even that early in the am. Sad for his family

 

[happy128]

Car with license plates of missing man found in woods along New Bern Ave. in Raleigh :: WRAL.com

"The same make and model, with the same license plate, was pulled from a wooded area Sunday evening. Police said the car was found upside down, covered in debris and smashed almost beyond recognition."

 

[borndem]

I'm local but in a different small city so not incredibly familiar with these locations. I am wondering if maybe he was meeting at a job site instead of going into Comfort Monster office. He gave very specific arrival times to his wife and boss when he talked to them that morning. I would think saying something like 6:42am would be because he is quoting what GPS says. If he was going into work, he probably would not need to GPS it.. not sure, only speculation at this point. I haven't found any recent information in news about this. My local moms' group has posted that there has been a meal train set up for the family, but they are advising not to donate to anything requesting money because they haven't set any of those up. Of course a lot of "talk" on social media but nothing from his wife today. She posted a lot yesterday on FB.

bbm
That's a good point, @happy128 -- maybe he was going to a appt. site or perhaps picking up some supplies for the company...

I live in Raleigh, but I'm not all that familiar with that side of town -- it's probably 15 miles from where I live. I do know that the area where he was driving is very busy -- a fairly large major medical center is in that area with several additional medical facilities on New Bern Avenue, Sunnybrook Road, and a few other offices in the area. The traffic in that area is busy 24 hrs/day every day of the week. No fun to drive in that area.
Maybe he arrived at his destination and got sick or was accosted. This is a mystery.

 

[borndem]

Bad news...

--------------------------------
Local News
Car with license plates of missing man found in woods along New Bern Ave. in Raleigh
Posted March 20, 2022 5:44 p.m. EDT
Updated March 20, 2022 11:08 p.m. EDT
By Leslie Moreno, WRAL reporter

Raleigh, N.C. — Hours after fire trucks, ambulances and Raleigh Police Department vehicles blocked lanes of eastbound New Bern Avenue on Sunday afternoon, a car matching one driven by a Wendell man missing since Thursday was pulled from the woods.
[...]
Family members said he drives a 2012 dark gray two-door Honda Civic with license PEH-1355.

The same make and model, with the same license plate, was pulled from a wooded area Sunday evening. Police said the car was found upside down, covered in debris and smashed almost beyond recognition.

More here:
Car with license plates of missing man found in woods along New Bern Ave. in Raleigh :: WRAL.com

 

[borndem]

double post

 

[Curious_in_NC]

I'm somewhat local and remember it was a pretty strong storm. It looks like the car was found near Crabtree Creek. There's a USGS monitoring station about a mile upstream from there that gives an idea how high the water was at that time. It looks like it was up about 5-6 feet.

ETA I agree with @borndem. It's no fun to drive near there, even in good weather.

 

[katikaboom]

I'm somewhat local and remember it was a pretty strong storm. It looks like the car was found near Crabtree Creek. There's a USGS monitoring station about a mile upstream from there that gives an idea how high the water was at that time. It looks like it was up about 5-6 feet.
View attachment 337175

ETA I agree with @borndem. It's no fun to drive near there, even in good weather.

I'm on this side of town, fairly familiar with the area and was driving that morning, although an hour later. The storm was crazy, it was hard to see. I can understand how he wasn't seen driving off the road, especially since it was still dawn, when the light quality can make it hard to see.

His poor wife and kids and family. I feel awful for them. She knew something was wrong right away, she just couldn't find him.

 

[Earthmama87]

Terribly sorry for his wife and children. I cannot imagine what she is going through. I really hate that this is how this turned out. Sad situation.

 

[happy128]

UPDATE; It is with heavy heart we must report that Gregory Thomas has been found deceased. His sister confirmed earlier. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family. #TheAWAREFoundation

Terrible but so glad he was found. The community is surrounding Julia. She has a lot of support, but it is going to be hard with 3 small children.

 

[borndem]

Sad news...
-------------
Local News
Hours after car pulled from woods off New Bern Ave. in Raleigh, family says Wendell father has been found
Tags:
Posted March 20, 2022 5:44 p.m. EDT
Updated March 21, 2022 10:00 a.m. EDT
--
By Lora Lavigne and Leslie Moreno, WRAL reporters

Raleigh, N.C. — The family of a Wendell man who had been missing since Thursday shared sad news that he had been found Monday morning.
Hours earlier, fire trucks, ambulances and Raleigh Police Department vehicles blocked lanes of eastbound New Bern Avenue on Sunday afternoon as a car matching the description of Gregory Thomas' car was pulled from the woods. A body was also recovered.
The car was down an embankment, upside down, covered in debris and badly damaged.
At 12:15 a.m., Thomas’ sister posted the news on her Facebook page, writing, "It is with a heavy heart to make this update. My brother was found and identified. Although our hearts are heavy, minds are confused, vision is blurred, and emotions unbalanced ... we want go to take a minute to thank you and acknowledge you all for the tremendous out pour and community support from all over."
-------------------------------------------------
More here:
Hours after car pulled from woods off New Bern Ave. in Raleigh, family says Wendell father has been found :: WRAL.com

 

[sloothseeker]

Followup will be interesting although not change the outcome. It seems the family/friends were only ones searching for him. I know adults have different criteria before they are deemed missing. I guess the only way LEO would have gotten involved that dreaded morning is if someone had seen the vehicle crash or go off into the woods. So very sad.

 

[happy128]

Followup will be interesting although not change the outcome. It seems the family/friends were only ones searching for him. I know adults have different criteria before they are deemed missing. I guess the only way LEO would have gotten involved that dreaded morning is if someone had seen the vehicle crash or go off into the woods. So very sad.

According the latest news, his car was seen going off the road on security camera at local business. Hard to know if the outcome would have been better if he had been located sooner. The car was mangled and underwater, so it may have been fairly quick for him.

Wendell man missing since Thursday found dead in overturned car

Sunday afternoon, investigators found his car down a steep embankment near the offramp from I-440 onto New Bern Avenue. The car was overturned and underwater. Investigators found Thomas dead inside the car.
Security camera footage showed Thomas' car sliding off the highway during heavy rain and plummeting into the woods.

 

[LoveyG]

Such a sad ending. Good for the employer for creating a college fund for his kinds. Very nice.

Body of Wendell father found with car off New Bern Ave. in Raleigh :: WRAL.com

"The owner of Comfort Monster, Thomas' employer, told WRAL News the company will be setting up a college fund for Thomas' children."