Two men die in separate incidents along the Blue Ridge Parkway

One man was 22 years old, the other, 55

BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY – The National Park Service announced Monday that two men died on Sunday in separate incidents about 100 miles away from each other along the Blue Ridge Parkway.

At 3 a.m., authorities received a report of a person in distress near Milepost 63, which just north of where the Parkway crosses over the James River in Amherst County.

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Authorities arrived to find a car parked off the shoulder of the road and found two people inside the car.

Authorities pronounced the driver, Kevin Cox, 55, of Lynchburg, dead at the scene and it’s believed he suffered a medical emergency before his death.

Later in the day, at 1:30 p.m., rangers responded to a motorcycle crash near Milepost 162, near Haycock in Floyd County.

The man riding the motorcycle, 22-year-old Matthew Gauck, of Pilot, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Gauck was going at a high rate of speed, which is what authorities say caused the crash.


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