A Lincoln County man died Tuesday in a single vehicle accidentwhile traveling home from work, authorities said.

James T. Smith, 66, of 35 East Lincoln Road, was pronounced deadon the scene Tuesday night after he was found in his crashed 2002Chevrolet S-10 pickup in a pasture on Harmony Drive in east-centralLincoln County.

Lincoln County Coroner Clay McMorris said Smith’s vehicleapparently left the road in front of Harmony Baptist Church,crashed through a fence and continued through the field untilimpacting a tree several hundred feet off the road.

An autopsy was scheduled for Wednesday at King’s DaughtersMedical Center to determine Smith’s exact cause of death, McMorrissaid.

Smith, a Topisaw Creek Water Association employee, was last seenat approximately 1:30 p.m. when he stopped to speak with JohnnyAllen and Lynn Butler.

“He stopped to talk to them and just made the statement that hewasn’t feeling good, and he was gonna go ahead and go home for theday,” McMorris said.

It is unknown at what time Smith left the road, McMorris said,but the accident site on Harmony Drive is not far from where he waslast seen.

Lincoln County Sheriff Steve Rushing said the department wascontacted at approximately 7 p.m. and informed that Smith had notreturned home from work. At 7:30 p.m., a second call came in fromsomeone who had seen the pickup in the pasture.

“Upon investigating the accident, we discovered it was [Smith],”Rushing said.