Rhonda Griffin, Editor

A 16-year-old Bladenboro boy was killed in a one-vehicle collision on Saturday.

Madison Eugene Rabon was traveling north on Hwy. 131 near Dublin when his Ford Ranger crossed the center line, ran off the road and struck a ditch, said reports from the North Carolina Highway Patrol. The truck then overturned onto its right side and slid down the ditch into a pine tree.

Dublin Station 53, Bladenboro Station 51, Bladenboro EMS and N.C. Highway Patrol responded to the scene. Rabon was transported to Bladen County Hospital by Bladenboro EMS, said Dublin Chief Deputy Pete Batton, where he was airlifted to Chapel Hill and later pronounced dead.

Rabon, of Airport Road, was traveling alone at the time of the wreck. The wreck is still under investigation, but it was not known at press time why the vehicle ran off the road. On-scene investigation by Trooper Matt Hardee showed that Rabon was traveling at 55 miles per hour at the time of the collision.