A 17-year-old Palm Coast boy was killed and another injured in a mudding crash in isolated and unlit Flagler Estates shortly after midnight this morning, according to the Florida Highway Patrol and the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office. Four other youths in the vehicle escaped injuries.
According to 911 dispatch notes, the group was in a Toyota Forerunner on Quick Street, traveling east on one of the many unpaved roads in Flagler Estates on the Flagler County side of the unbuilt subdivision. The Forerunner veered west, struck a waterlogged ditch, and overturned, sinking on its roof into the water. The 17 year old was driving the SUV.
At one point FHP requested a dive team to ensure that no other individuals were ejected from the SUV, but later cancelled it once everyone was accounted for.
Other than the driver, passengers included two 16-year-old boys, one of whom sustained minor injuries, a 16-year-old girl, an 18-year-old man and a 19-year-old girl, all from Palm Coast with one exception (the 18-year-old man was listed by FHP as being from Satsuma). The youths attempted CPR on the driver before turning over rescue efforts to sheriff’s deputies. The 17 year old was pronounced deceased at the scene at 47 minutes after midnight. Both Flagler County and St. Johns County authorities responded to the crash.
The fatality is the 23rd traffic-related death in Flagler County this year, resulting from over 1,300 crashes, according to FHP.
Flagler Estates is a 10,000-acre subdivision in northwest Flagler County platted in the 1960s in a foolhardy speculative frenzy. It still has hundreds of homeowners but no homes, no services, and no road leading to it except from St. Johns County. Well over 1,000 homes have been built on the St. Johns side. The Flagler County Commission over the years has attempted to make the subdivision viable, but failed every time.
Because of its isolation and rare policing, the grid has been a somewhat popular place for revelers, bonfires, mudding enthusiasts, and the occasional murder or location of choice for murderers to drop their victims.
Flagler Estates A Flagler County Sheriff’s spokesperson said this morning that deputies will be conducting extra patrols there throughout the long Christmas weekend “to deter reckless driving and other unlawful activity.”
