Authorities said a Copiah County man died Saturday afternoonafter the motorcycle he was riding struck a tree on the NatchezTrace Parkway.

Natchez Trace officials told The Carthaginian newspaper thatEdwin Dear, 50, of Wesson died after they received a call at 1:45p.m. about a one-vehicle accident. In addition to Trace officials,Thomastown Volunteer Fire Department and Carthage Emergency MedicalServices responded to the crash scene.

The wreck occurred between Red Dog Road and the Highway 429crossing on the Trace, south of Thomastown, Trace officialssaid.

Officials said it was uncertain why Dear’s 1986 Honda motorcycleveered off the roadway and hit a tree. The accident remains underinvestigation

Dear was declared dead on the scene, parkway officials said.There were no witnesses to the crash.