A 20-year-old man was killed in a high-speed motorcycle crash Saturday night, but it wasn't until the next morning that his body was found, Tucson police say.
About 10:30 p.m. Saturday, officers answered a call about an abandoned motorcycle leaning against the jersey barrier — the concrete barriers used to separate traffic lanes — along the eastbound lanes of Aviation Parkway near the bridge at East 22nd Street, Tucson police said in a news release.
The 2005 Yamaha YZF-R6 was upright, and except for minor scrapes on one side, was undamaged.
Officers were unable to contact the registered owner, and the Yamaha was eventually towed for safekeeping, the release said.
About 7:00 a.m. Sunday, police were called back to Aviation — near South Kino Parkway — after passersby reported that a motorcyclist was on the ground off the road. The location was the next exit north of where the Yamaha was found the night before.
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Officers found the body of Beckham Chadwick West between the jersey barrier and a fence, the release said.
West appears to have been traveling east in the right lane of Aviation when he lost control and was thrown from the Yamaha, police said.
West's body then struck a streetlight pole near the underpass at Aviation and Kino, dying on impact, the release said.
The motorcycle continued traveling upright on Aviation, coming to a stop and leaning against the jersey barrier near the 22nd Street underpass, police said.
A "substantial distance" separated the location where West was thrown from the motorcycle to where it was found.
Speeding was a major factor in the wreck, which is still being investigated, police say.
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