Vilas man killed in Saturday accident

By Jerry Sena

jtsena@wataugademocrat.com

A Vilas man is dead and a Boone woman is in serious condition following a Saturday morning head-on collision on N.C. 105 just south of Boone.

Perry Glenn Bentley, Jr., 36, was killed when his 1990 Ford Ranger pickup reportedly crossed the centerline and smashed head-on into a 1986 Volvo station wagon driven by 29-year-old Hillary Ann Holt of Boone.

Holt was airlifted to Johnson City Medical Center in “very critical condition,” according to Trooper Josh Hodges of the N.C. State Highway Patrol.

A spokeswoman at the medical center said that Holt was in serious condition Monday afternoon.

The crash occurred at 4:30 a.m., near the junction with Old Shulls Mill Road, when Bentley, who was northbound at the time, crossed the center line and struck Holt’s southbound vehicle.

Hodges, who is leading the investigation into the crash, said neither vehicle appeared to be speeding and no alcohol was involved.

“He just possibly fell asleep,” Hodges said of Bentley, who was buried at Shull Cemetery on Tuesday. “That’s the most likely explanation.”

Hodges said Bentley’s injuries were worsened because he was not wearing a seat belt. He said the damage to Holt’s car was so severe it was impossible to know if she was wearing a seat belt.