Missing Muhlenberg man located after accident

A Muhlenberg County man who had been missing for over 24 hours was found alive after a one-vehicle accident on the Western Kentucky Parkway.

Robert Trent Nantz had been missing since 5 a.m. Jan. 14 when his wife, Jordan, reported that he had failed to return home after leaving work in Cromwell around 5 a.m.

According to Ohio County Sheriff’s Office, dispatch received a call around 9:21 a.m. Jan. 15 of a one-vehicle collision at the bridge over the Green River at the 65 mile-maker on the Western Kentucky Parkway. In a message with Jordan Nantz through social media Tuesday morning, she said she along with her husband’s parents had located the vehicle and found Nantz alive at the scene.

When OCSO arrived at the scene deputies found the white Chevrolet Tahoe operated by Nantz had run off the road into the median, struck a concrete bridge abutment, went airborne, traveled down an embankment and came to rest on its side.

Jordan posted on social media that Nantz said he had fallen asleep about 10 minutes from work and woke up just before the accident but it was too late to recover. She said he was knocked unconscious and woke up near the river. He was ejected from his vehicle.

Nantz spent over 28 hours under the bridge. According to the national weather service the temperature that night was in the low 30s.

He was flown from the scene by Air Evac to the University of Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville for treatment of his injuries. Ohio County EMS, Beaver Dam Fire Department, Ohio County EMA, Central City Fire Department, Wendell H. Ford Center Fire Department, Muhlenberg County EMS and Kentucky State Police also provided assistance at the scene.

In a message from Jordan Tuesday morning, she said Nantz was out of ICU and doing better and was undergoing surgery for his foot and mandible at the time of her message. She later reported on social media that the surgery went well.

“He’s got a long road ahead of him. He has surgery today and Thursday for sure right now and maybe another surgery on his foot after this one. It’s in really bad shape but he’s so lucky to be alive,” she wrote. “The wreck alone should have killed him not even counting the day he was out in that snow and rain bleeding. I mean the Lord truly saved him.”

A GoFundMe account has been created for the family, in the name Robert Trent Nantz, to assist in transportation, lodging and food for the family to stay close to the hospital.