Wreckage, body discovered

Motorist on Highway 113 spots truck belonging to Indianola man missing since Nov. 14

By James Beaty

A chance reflection spotted by an aware truck driver on Thursday afternoon led to the discovery of a wrecked pickup truck and the body of missing Indianola man Gary Arrington.

Truck driver Kenneth Hagan found the wrecked pick-up around 12:53 p.m. on Thursday, jammed between some trees close to the bottom of a steep incline near the intersection of U.S. Business 69 and State Highway 113.

Arrington, 40, had last been accounted for during the early-morning hours of Nov. 14, when he left RCB’s Club on Texanna Road, near Eufaula.

Since Arrington had been reported missing, he had been the target of numerous searches by land, air and water.

No sign had been found of either Arrington or his blue 2001 Ford Ranger, until Hagan found the wreckage on Thursday afternoon.

Hagan, of Canadian, drives for Big Mac Tank Trucks. He had been driving toward the Indianola area near 1 p.m. on Thursday when he saw something unusual.

“I was headed north when I saw something reflecting through the trees,” Hagan said. He said he pulled his truck over and got out.

As he walked down the steep grade to the clump of trees, Hagan spotted the wreckage of a pick-up. The vehicle had wedged between some trees and had snapped at least one at the trunk, which had fallen over and partially covered the vehicle.

“I called the highway patrol and gave them the tag number,” said Hagan. When the highway patrol asked Hagan if anyone was inside, he walked closer and spotted Arrington’s body.

Hagan said the highway patrol asked him to remain at the scene until the sheriff’s department arrived.

Pittsburg County sheriff’s personnel and other law enforcement officers rushed to the site.

“As far as we know, it looks like a regular accident,” Pittsburg County Sheriff Joel Kerns said on Thursday, but he noted the matter is still under investigation.

Kerns said it appeared Arrington had been heading south, toward the McAlester area, when his pick-up left the roadway, crossed the north-bound lane, and then rolled down the steep grade at the side of the roadway, until it hit the clump of trees, near the bottom of the incline.

The foliage on the trees, as well as the steep grade off the road’s shoulder, helped obscure the wrecked pick-up from motorists driving on the highway.

Among the many searchers had been Dennis and Tammy Waters, of Team Water Sonar, who had been helping at the request of Texas Equusearch.

“We had driven by this area looking for him,” Dennis Watters said Thursday afternoon as the recovery efforts were under way to pull the pick-up from the clump of trees.

“Because it was so well camouflaged, we couldn’t see it,” he said.

In addition to sheriff’s personnel, law enforcement officers from the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation and the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, as well as personnel from the state Medical Examiner’s Office, were at the site Thursday.

Emergency responders from McAlester Fire Department used specialized equipment to help remove Arrington’s body from the wreckage, while members of the Shady Grove Fire Department helped direct traffic.

Hagan said he had been actively keeping a watch out for Arrington or the missing man’s pick-up while driving his truck.

That led to his spotting the reflection.

“I pay attention all around me,” said Hagan. “I had seen the posters all over town.”

Contact James Beaty at jbeaty@mcalesternews.com.

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