July 30, 2013
07/31/13 Monday afternoon at approximately 2:50 PM the Starke County Sheriff’s Department 9-1-1 call center received a report of a plane crash. The caller advised the crash was near State Road 8 along the South end of the Starke County Airport.
Arriving on the scene officers from the Starke County Sheriff’s Department and Hamlet Police Department located a single engine RV-6 Vanns Airplane. The Plane was located approximately twenty yards off of State Road 8 in a cornfield. The pilot of the plane was pronounced dead at the scene. The pilot, 68 year old James A. W. Evans III of Stafford, VA. Stake County Coroner Kris Rannells said Evans died instantly. It is hoped that an autopsy scheduled today will help determine the cause of death.
The preliminary cause of the crash is yet unknown and will be investigated by the NTSB and FAA.