MAN DIES IN EARLY MORNING ACCIDENT
First Thanksgiving weekend fatality of the year

By Jon Mayhew

VALE -- A single-vehicle accident around 11:30 a.m. Wednesday marked the first Thanksgiving fatality on Lincoln County roads this year.

According to North Carolina Highway Patrol trooper C. Casey, 57-year-old Gary Cooper of Frank Cline Road, Vale, was traveling on Perry Jonas Road off Plateau Road when the accident happened.

"He suffered some type of medical condition either prior to or during the accident," said Trooper Casey.

Casey said his investigationr revealed the accident may have happened around 8:30 a.m. and wasn't spotted for three hours.

Casey said the accident was in the woods. Cooper was pronounced dead at the scene.