2 Hilton Head residents die after vehicle overturns into a lagoon Monday night in Sea Pines
This story will be updated as more information becomes available.
Two people died Monday night after the car they were in went off the road and overturned into a Sea Pines lagoon on Hilton Head, according to the South Carolina Highway Patrol.
Around 10:53 p.m., a 2018 Mazda carrying three people was backing out of a private driveway on Beach Lagoon Road when it went off the road, said Trooper Nick Pye with the South Carolina Highway Patrol. The car then overturned into the lagoon.
The driver of the car, Pye said, was able to escape and was uninjured. Two others, 77-year-old Michael Weingarten and Neil Hilsen, 81, both of Hilton Head, were not able to get out in time and drowned, said Andrew McNeese with the Beaufort County Coroner’s Office.
Because of the obvious manner of death, McNeese said, no autopsies will be conducted.
The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office was called out to the scene and was able to recover the car from the water with the help of Carolina Towing and a Sea Pines maintenance team, said Maj. Angela Viens with the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office.
The investigation into the incident is ongoing, Pye said.
This story was originally published May 2, 2023 at 12:29 PM.
