Man Driving To Columbia Killed In Western MD Crash: Police

CUMBERLAND, MD — Police said a man driving from Kentucky to Columbia has been found dead. His vehicle rolled down an embankment in western Maryland, according to Maryland State Police.

Avery Smothers, 31, of Lexington, Kentucky, was pronounced deceased at the scene, police said.

Smothers left Kentucky on Tuesday, Feb. 26, according to authorities.

Police said Smothers driving to Maryland to visit relatives, and when he did not arrive at his destination, his family reported him missing.

After 7:50 a.m. on Wednesday, March 6, police said that a witness reported seeing a Chevrolet Tahoe down an embankment in Cumberland. The vehicle was about 50 yards off the road and was not visible to someone driving, officials reported.

Based on the preliminary investigation, police said that the Tahoe went off eastbound Interstate 68 before Mountain Road in Cumberland. It hit a tree and rolled multiple times.

During the crash, police believe Smothers was thrown from the SUV.

A Help Find Avery Smothers Facebook page was established as his loved ones attempted to find him.

Smothers is survived by three children, according to WKYT, the CBS affiliate out of Kentucky. The news station reported Smothers, who had been en route to Columbia, was last seen in West Virginia and his phone had last been tracked to an area near a state park in Maryland.