Neponset man killed in single-car crash

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NEPONSET — A Neponset man died Friday after the car he was driving went off the road and collided with a tree north of Neponset.

John Mathas, 33, was pronounced dead at the scene, located at 200 East Street, also known as the Mineral/Neponset blacktop, one-half mile south of 1300 North Avenue in Mineral Township, at 2:20 p.m. Friday by Bureau County Coroner Janice Wamhoff.

According to the Bureau County Sheriff’s Department, Mathas was discovered after county highway workers found fresh skid marks on the road. There were no skid marks on the road when the workers were in the area at 6 a.m., so when they saw the skid marks at 12:30 p.m., they followed the marks and found Mathas’ car in the ditch.

According to the sheriff’s department, Mathas was traveling southbound on 200 East Street in a 1979 Buick Electra at an unknown rate of speed when his vehicle went off the road to the right. Mathas apparently overcorrected, returning the car to the road and then crossing the center line, where it skidded sideways off the road and struck a tree. The impact turned the vehicle in the opposition direction, and it came to rest seven feet from the tree.

In addition to the sheriff’s department and the coroner’s office, the Neponset Fire Department and Buda Rescue responded to the scene. Buda Rescue transported Mathas to Perry Memorial Hospital in Princeton.

An inquest is pending.