An Orcas Island man was found dead after his car went off the road.

On Thursday, Jan. 10 at about 8:40 p.m. a single vehicle traffic crash was reported along Crescent Beach Road on Orcas Island. Emergency responders found the operator of the vehicle, James E. Ekberg, 71,  dead at the scene.

Ekberg, a resident of Olga, was driving east on Crescent Beach Road when the vehicle left the roadway. Initial investigation by the San Juan County Sheriff’s Department indicates that he suffered a fatal medical event while driving, and the vehicle subsequently left the roadway, and rolled to a stop in the ditch.

There was no evidence of any traumatic injury from the crash, according to the Sheriff’s Department. The incident remains under investigation. Ekberg was alone in the vehicle, and no other vehicles were involved.