A Utica resident was found dead in his pickup Sunday, apparently after it left Mississippi 27 about 12 hours earlier and crashed into the woods.

Separately, a 77-year-old construction worker was found dead at his job site this morning after suffering an apparent heart attack.

Apparently killed instantly in the one-vehicle wreck on Mississippi 27 was Danny Lee, 52, of 1028 Long Island Road. He was en route from Vicksburg about 1:30 a.m. when his truck left the road in a curve six miles southeast of the Beechwood intersection.

Shirley Williams, who lives at 6695 Mississippi 27, said she heard a “loud boom” during the night, but when she went out to see what the noise was, she said she couldn’t see anything. Her son, 20-year-old Jamal Williams, was returning from a trip to the store at about noon Sunday, when he saw the blue truck in the woods.

“We expected there to be an empty truck, but he said somebody was in there,” Shirley Williams said.

Trooper John Minor of the Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol, said he received the dispatch just after 12:30 Sunday afternoon. It appeared Lee lost control of his vehicle and continued south across the Williams’ front yard. “He drove through the residents’ driveway and into a wooded area, and struck a tree,” Minor said.

Warren County Coroner Doug Huskey, who was on the scene, said Lee died from head and chest trauma.

This morning around 8 at 1046 Warrenton Road, the construction site for Riverwalk Casino, Eddie Tyner Jr., 77, 209 E. Gaddis St., Apt. C, in Jackson was found dead in the water truck he was driving for Foshee Construction.

Fellow employee Dennis Purvis noticed that Tyner had not started his truck, which is used to keep down dust at the site. He discovered, then, that the 17-year employee of the company was slumped over his steering wheel.

Upon arriving on the scene, Huskey said it appeared Tyner’s death was caused by a heart attack. Efforts to revive him failed.

His body was taken to Lakeview Funeral Home pending transfer to Jackson for an autopsy, required when a death occurs on a job site, Huskey said.

Lee was one of two sets of twins in a family of six children. Family members gathered Sunday at the wreck scene after they heard the news. His youngest sister, Dorothy Lee, said that her brother loved his family and that his daughter, 16-year-old Kelci Lee was “his life.”

“He was real proud of his family,” Dorothy Lee said. “He was a people person and loved life.”

His family remembers him for loving the simple things in life, such as banana pudding and homemade vanilla ice cream. He also enjoyed seeing the country in his 18-wheeler or Harley-Davidson motorcycle.

“He was always known for having your back. He was our family teddy bear,” Dorothy Lee said. “He loved to make people laugh.”

Danny Lee was preceded in death by his father, Billy Ray Lee.

In addition to his daughter and youngest sister, he is survived by his mother, Johnnie Lee of Vicksburg; his twin brother, Donny Lee of Vicksburg; brother, Doyle Lee of Vicksburg; and two sisters, Dianne Lee Schaub of Charlotte, N.C., and Deborah Lee Stokes of Vicksburg.

Funeral arrangements were incomplete this morning with Riles Funeral Home.