A 17-year-old boy from North Carolina died after crashing his car into a tree while on his way to work early Thursday morning, Aug. 14.
High school student Gary Landyn Jacobs was driving to a job with his family’s logging business around 4 a.m. when his vehicle struck a tree on Canal Cove Road in Lake Waccamaw, according to WECT.
The crew had been working near the Green Swamp Preserve, Columbus County News reported.
Authorities have not yet determined the cause of the crash. PEOPLE has reached out to the Lake Waccamaw Police Department for comment.
“What he was going to do that morning… he wanted to be in the logging woods, he was going to work,” his uncle, Josh Simmons, told WECT about his nephew, who went by his middle name.
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“Without a shadow of a doubt, anybody who knows Landyn knew he was going to be running a crew in the logging woods with his brother and daddy,” Simmons added.
Jacobs, a student at East Columbus High School, was treated by first responders at the scene but died from his injuries, WECT reported.
The school shared a message of mourning on Facebook, writing, “Gator family and community please keep the Jacobs family and our school in your thoughts as we have lost our beloved Landyn Jacobs. Always remember we are better together!”
Simmons described his nephew as both hardworking and fun-loving. “He was a go-getter and a clown on the baseball field that made everybody laugh,” he said, noting that Jacobs played second base and had recently earned MVP honors in an eastern tournament.
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Jacobs also enjoyed riding four-wheelers with his friends, often modifying them with snorkels so they could drive into ponds.
“We are all about family, and if one of us hurts, then all of us hurt,” Simmons continued. “We got each other’s back, and we are going to be there for each other, his Momma and Daddy, and Aunt.”
According to an online obituary, Jacobs is survived by his parents, sister, brothers, and extended family members.
