Melvin Way Jr., a 25-year-old Athens resident, is the driver of the pickup vehicle that caught fire after it crashed on the east side of town last weekend. Athens-Clarke County Coroner Sonny Wilson stated that Way’s whole corpse was charred, making it impossible for authorities to identify him right away.
He stated that dental records at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Decatur forensics lab helped accomplish positive identification on Thursday. County police continued to investigate what caused the deadly crash.
Way’s pickup veered off the road at Vine and Herman streets on Sunday just before three in the morning and collided with a utility pole. The truck was completely engulfed in flames by the time first responders arrived.
