Christopher Skotniski was on his way to pick up his brother from jail, but he never arrived

Skotniski died in a one-car crash Sunday morning, when the 1990 Jeep Eagle he was driving crashed through a cable guide rail on Route 34 and tumbled down an embankment.

The car failed to negotiate a turn in Ira, just north of Cato. The Jeep rolled down the embankment, striking several trees, and came to rest out of sight of the road. Skotniski, 26, of Palermo, was ejected from the vehicle.

Skotniski had just left his stepfather's residence in Cato at 2 a.m. Sunday, heading to pick up his brother at the Oswego County Sheriff's Office.

Skotniski and his brother, Larry Quackenbush, had been stopped two hours earlier on Route 34 in Hannibal by Owesgo County sheriff's deputies on their way home from Hannibal Field Days. Quackenbush was taken into custody for driving while intoxicated.

Skotniski and the vehicle were picked up at the scene of the DWI stop in by Skotniski's stepfather and driven to the stepfather's residence in Cato.

Approximately two hours later, the family received a call from Quackenbush, who said he was being released and needed a ride home.

Skotniski then left alone to pick him up and was not heard from again. The accident occurred less than two miles from the stepfather's residence on the south side of the village of Cato.

Family members began searching Skotniski after he failed to show up at the Oswego County sheriff's department. He was found at 10:30 a.m. Sunday, and had been dead for some time, according to the Cayuga County Sheriff's Office.

Information welcome

Anyone with information concerning the fatal crash Sunday morning is asked to call the Cayuga County Sheriff's Office Criminal Investigations Unit at 253-1610.