Sixty-eight year old Charles Morgan died after his 2003 Volvo veered off of Hwy. 98 near Bude this weekend.

Morgan was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident. His passenger, 69-year-old Johnnie Crawford, sustained moderate injuries and, according to Mississippi Highway Patrol, was sent to Southwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center.

Southwest was unable to provide Crawford’s condition report, citing concerns over a potential HIPAA violation.

The cause of the accident, which happened Saturday at 6:36 p.m., remains a mystery, but Cpl. Brandon Fortenberry of Mississippi Highway Patrol Troop M said alcohol was not a factor.

Morgan and Crawford were each ejected from the car after it ran off the road and crashed into an oak. Fortenberry said his team is unsure if either man was wearing a seatbelt at the time of the collision.

The impact of the crash was so severe that the tree — which measured roughly four feet in circumference — snapped, obstructing traffic for roughly two hours afterward.

“When they hit the tree, which was fairly big, it splintered and fell across the roadway,” Fortenberry said.

There were no witnesses to the wreck, and authorities suggested it could have resulted from any number of things.

Crawford is from Fayette, as was Morgan.

Story by Trapper Kinchen