JERSEY SHORE – The body of a Jersey Shore-area motorist was discovered early Tuesday morning facedown in Antes Creek, just a few feet from the car he was driving when it went off Route 44 and crashed, landing in the waterway, about 2 miles south of here, according to the Tiadaghton Valley Regional police.
The driver was identified as Philip Kanski, of 149 Mantle Lane, Crawford Township, who had been missing since Monday morning when he failed to return home.
Friends looking for him discovered the wreckage and his body about 5:10 a.m.
Kanski, whose driver’s license had been revoked because of several motor vehicle violations in the past, was driving a friend’s 2002 Mercury Sable when he apparently lost control of the car as he was traveling south on Route 44 in Nippenose Township.
The car struck a tree, traveled down an 18-foot embankment and landed in the creek, which was about 2 feet deep. The demolished car was not visible from the road but, a damaged tree with its bark peeled off, caught the attention of two people who had been out looking for Kanski during the early morning hours.
Lycoming County Coroner Charles E. Kiessling Jr. pronounced Kanski dead at the scene of blunt force head trauma. Kanski was not wearing a seat belt and was ejected from the car and thrown into the creek.
Kanski was last seen about 8 a.m. Monday when he left the Salladasburg-area home of his fiancee. It was believed that he was on his way to his house when the crash occurred.
Volunteer firefighters from Antes Fort and Jersey Shore as well as volunteer fire police and the state Department of Transportation responded to the crash.
It was stated that the body had clearly been in the water a considerable time.
There apparently were no witnesses to the crash, but Tiadaghton Valley Regional police are asking anyone who might have any information about the crash to give them a call at 570-398-2146.
