Last Updated on November 15, 2026 8:05 am
WILKES COUNTY – On Saturday, Nov. 14, at 12:18 p.m., the North Carolina State Highway Patrol responded to and investigated a fatal collision on US 421 at the 270-mile marker in Wilkes County.
A white Freightliner non-CMV dump truck was traveling east in the right lane on US 421 at the Dennyville Road exit when a vehicle attempted to merge onto US 421. The truck driver swerved to avoid contact with the merging vehicle, and the truck traveled off the road to the left, colliding with the guardrail and the end of a bridge. The truck then went over the edge of the bridge and came to rest on Dennyville Road below.
The driver of the truck, Alberto Maya Benitez, 48, of Yadkinville, died at the scene of the collision.
The District Attorney will be contacted regarding charges for the driver of the vehicle that did not make contact with the truck.
Troopers said Benitez was wearing his seat belt and that alcohol was not a contributing factor in the collision.
