Pigeon Forge, Tennessee (WATE) — A family vacation turned tragic on Friday when a guy died while visiting the Rod Run car festival.
“We come every year for the Rod Run. We visit three times a year and stay for one week each time. “This was my son’s first time attending with me,” his father, Jeremy Hanes, stated.
Jeremy Hanes and his 31-year-old son Kyle Hanes bonded over their passion for automobiles.
“He loved cars, we own a car lot in Indiana, and he was my ace, my number one, he was like me made over,” says Jeremy Hanes.
KyleAccording to Jeremy Hanes, he and his son were riding scooters Thursday night when police officers urged them to relocate from the sidewalk to the road. They later became separated.
“It was brought to my attention five minutes after my son left me that night that this happened – that he was in an accident – and I discovered it on my own, I went down the street and I seen the scooter there and I seen his hat laying on the ground,” says Jeremy Hanes.
On Saturday, the Pigeon Forge Police Department announced that a man driving a scooter collided with a car door that had been opened at a red light while driving between the road and the sidewalk. He died the next day at the hospital.
“He couldn’t wait to come to this Rod Run with me and he was very very happy,” according to Jeremy Hanes. “And now it’s over.”
Jeremy Hanes now wants answers.
“No one can give me an answer, why has no one reached out to me to let me know anything, why has nobody said anything to me?” He inquired. “My son is gone; he’s not coming back.”
And he is looking for justice for his kid.
“Somebody is at fault here, and somebody is going to pay for this.”
Hanes stated that knowing his son was nearly a year sober when he died gives him comfort.