Palmer man dies in Glenn Highway accident

SUTTON — A 40-year-old Palmer man is believed to have died Friday evening after his truck rode a guardrail along the Glenn Highway then tumbled down an embankment, Alaska State Troopers report.

The body of Benjamin Loyer was discovered about 5:30 p.m., Saturday by two people who were out on a walk in the area near the highway at Moose Creek on the Matanuska River side of the bridge, AST spokeswoman Elizabeth Ipsen said.

“They were walking in a field, saw something and checked it out,” Ipsen said. “They discovered it was a truck.”

About 100 feet from the wrecked pickup was Loyer’s body, she said. Although it wasn’t immediately clear just when the accident happened, Ipsen said it appears the wreckage and body had been there for nearly a day.

“As far as we can tell, it’s been there quite awhile,” she said. “We’re thinking it happened sometime last night (Friday), maybe about 8:30.”

Initial investigation at the scene Saturday shows Loyer was driving a 2004 Chevy pickup northbound on the Glenn Highway at a high rate of speed when the truck collided with the guardrail, Ipsen said. It skidded along the guardrail, then tumbled down a steep embankment. It cut through a swath of trees and came to rest at the edge of a hayfield.

Loyer, who AST believes was the driver and only occupant of the vehicle, was ejected, she said.

Troopers believe speed was a factor in the crash “because it skidded along the guardrail quite a ways,” Ipsen said. “That makes us believe he was going quite fast and speed was a factor.”