A 24-year-old man is dead after a fatal motor vehicle accident in Erie, early Sunday morning.

Local police told reporters that they discovered the accident upon their regular rounds shortly after 12:30 a.m. Sunday morning. They say the accident was not called in and that it is likely it occurred just minutes before they arrived. 

Police say they found the 2007 GMC Sierra after it had apparently hit two trees at the intersection of Koehler Road and Norcross Road, across from the Wintergreen Gorge Cemetery in Millcreek Township.

The passenger of the truck was thrown from the truck and was pronounced dead at the scene of accident by the Erie County Coroner. The autopsy, completed Sunday afternoon, showed the cause of death to be blunt force trauma to the head and other extremities.

The driver of the truck was not injured, but was taken into custody. Police have not made an official statement about the cause of the accident nor have they said whether alcohol played a role. Police are expected to make a statement once the investigation is over. This was the second fatal accident in Erie County in a 24-hour span.

Source: WICU, "24-year-Old Dies After Crash in Millcreek" 9 March 2014