A man who was the subject of an active Silver Alert died Friday after he drove the wrong way on Interstate 75 and struck a pickup disabled by stop sticks head-on.
- Clifford Shilling was the subject of an active Silver Alert
- Sumter County deputies deployed stop sticks on I-75
- FHP: Another vehicle hit stop sticks, and Shilling's car hit that vehicle
Clifford Shilling of Dunnellon died several hours after being taken to Ocala Regional Medical Center, the Florida Highway Patrol said.
At about 5 a.m. Friday, troopers were alerted to a wrong-way driver traveling southbound in the northbound lanes of I-75, near the Sumter-Marion County line.
After an attempt to flag down or stop the wrong-way driver was unsuccessful, Sumter deputies deployed stop sticks near mile marker 29, according to an FHP report. A 2011 Chevrolet pickup traveling northbound hit the stop sticks and came to rest in the inside emergency lane of the northbound lanes.
That's when Shilling's 2012 Volkswagen Passat struck the pickup head-on, troopers said. The pickup rotated and was struck by a tractor trailer.
Both Shilling and the driver of the pickup, Dale Yokoyama, 65, of Largo were taken to Ocala Regional. Yokoyama was last in serious condition.
Shilling, 88, was last seen at about 12:45 a.m. Friday leaving his home in the 13000 block of SW 111 Circle in Dunnellon, and the Marion Sheriff's Office had issued a news release stating he was missing and endangered because he suffered from dementia and other medical problems. A Silver Alert was then issued.
The driver of the tractor trailer was not injured.
Clifford Shilling, 88, was the subject of an active Silver Alert.