TAVARES, Fla.—Tavares Police Department is investigating after a man was found deceased in his crashed vehicle by a passerby early Wednesday morning.
At 12:50 a.m., a 911 caller reported he was walking and saw overturned truck in an open construction field in the area of Dead River Road and Sierra Drive approximately 50 yards from the roadway. Police are unsure how long the 2018 Chevrolet pickup truck was there before it was discovered, TPD Public Information Officer Courtney Sullivan said, and are asking anyone who may have witnessed the crash to contact them.
The driver, Michael Winterbottom, 63, of Mount Dora, was found in the truck and pronounced deceased on the scene.
TPD has also publicly identified the pair critically injured in a unrelated motorcycle crash Friday morning. Everett Swift, 74, and Janice Swift, 82, both of Leesburg and Michigan, were riding a 2003 Harley-Davidson motorcycle southbound on State Road 19 and failed to slow for traffic stopped at the traffic light at Dead River Road. The motorcycle slammed into the back of a 2015 Chevrolet Silverado, throwing the pair from the motorcycle. Everett Swift and Janice Swift were each airlifted to area hospitals with critical injuries. They have since been released and are undergoing treatment at a rehabilitation facility, Sullivan said.
