There are few details on why Dickens, who formerly attended Chaminade-Julienne High School, ran from the car. An investigation into Dickens’ social media accounts — including a series of Facebook posts made on his personal page around the time of the crash — is ongoing, Faunda said.
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“The only thing we know is his family thought he was in Cleveland for the weekend,” Faunda said. “There was no reason for him to be here.”
Dickens side-swiped another vehicle Sunday morning on Interstate 70 near mile marker 211, jumped from the vehicle before it came to a stop and ran across the highway and down a steep hill to a drainage culvert, police said.
Troopers tried to find Dickens using an airplane and additional police backup. It wasn’t until a trooper suggested calling for Dickens in a drainage culvert they discovered he crawled 200-300 feet inside. Dickens responded to police at first, but eventually stopped communicating.
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Police sent a robot with a video camera into the culvert and discovered him face down in water, Faunda said. A West Virginia dive squad removed his body and he was declared dead on scene. His body was taken to Licking County for a medical examination and toxicology screen. OSP is conducting its own blood tests, as well.
Faunda, a 24-year veteran of the state patrol, said Dickens appeared to be an “outstanding citizen” with no criminal history aside from a traffic violation.
“I’ve never seen anything like this where a person didn’t have a reason to run,” he said.
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