LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Monday, Wira Winburn made sure no personal items were left behind where 20-year-old Travis Haley’s body and vehicle were found over the weekend.
“Nobody should lay somewhere for 72-hours,” Winburn said.
Family members are heartbroken, saying Haley went missing after last Thursday’s ice storm. He was heading to work when the winter storm was starting.
When no one heard from Travis, family members filed a missing persons report on Friday and continued a search for him. Two days later, police reported his body was found near a crashed vehicle on Chenoweth Run Road in Jeffersontown.
The family have more questions and want answers from police regarding their policies surrounding car crashes.
They said an officer checked the crash scene after it was called in Thursday but reported it as a “non-injury” accident.
"Parents we're the ones that kept going back to police with new information and they basically were told they are short staffed there is nothing we can do," Winburn said.
She tells WHAS11 News there is understanding staffing shortages affecting everyone, but the way things were handled is very concerning.
Winburn said the officers said they would assign a detective on Monday.
"That happened on Thursday. What parent is going to wait ‘til Monday, especially with the weather we've had?"
As for Winburn, she's asking the public to be more aware of their surroundings when driving. In hopes that this will not happen to another family.
A donation site has been set up for the family, for more information click here.
WHAS 11 reached out to LMPD about some of the questions the family had about their policies when it comes to situations like these. While they did not provide a specific response to that, they did provide a timeline of their handling of the case.
Thursday
5:45 PM: Seventh Division officers were dispatched to a vehicle collision at 4600 Chenoweth Run Rd. The collision involved a single vehicle that had run off the road striking a utility pole and several trees near Chenoweth Run Creek. Upon arrival officers found the vehicle to be unoccupied. A coordinated search was conducted with LMPD officers along with Jeffersontown Fire & Rescue, but the operator of the vehicle was not located.
Friday
A Missing Person Report was filed with Jeffersontown Police Department.
Saturday
LMPD Missing Persons Unit notified by LMPD’s 7th Division.
LMPD officers conducted another ground search.
9:10 PM: LMPD Air Unit conducted an aerial search.
Sunday
10:30 AM: LMPD Air Unit conducted an additional aerial search along with supplemental drone deployment.
Jeffersontown Police Department along with LMPD Missing Persons Unit conducted ground search along with Louisville Metro Emergency Management Services Search & Rescue coordinated K9’s.
LMPD Traffic Unit was contacted to assist with collision dynamics to better determine a search area.
At 12:33 PM MetroSafe received a call from 5600 block of Chenoweth Run Rd, near Chenoweth Run Creek. Officers responded to that location, approximately a mile from the original motor vehicle collision, and determined the deceased victim was the missing operator of the crashed vehicle.
Jefferson County Deputy Coroner responded to the scene and pronounced the victim deceased at 1:18 PM.
Awaiting post-mortem examination to determine the cause of death.
Identifying information will come from the Jefferson County Coroner’s Office.
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