Tonganoxie ? A 21-year-old Tonganoxie man was found dead inside a burning pickup truck early Thursday morning near Tonganoxie.

Police Chief Jeff Brandau said officers were called to the accident scene just before 1 a.m. Thursday at Leavenworth County Road 5 underneath the U.S. Highway 24-40 bridge.

Brandau said the vehicle, which had slammed into concrete pillars just east of CR-5, was engulfed in flames when law enforcement officials arrived. Inside they found Colin Bennett, a 2012 Tonganoxie High School graduate, who was deceased.

Evidence from tire tracks indicate there were two vehicles involved in the accident. Brandau said the department is still working to find the other vehicle involved in the crash.

“Until we get that second vehicle, we don’t know what the heck happened,” Brandau said. “But definitely the vehicle that struck the bridge (pillars) was going at a high rate of speed.”

Thursday night, more than 100 people gathered at the frigid accident scene alongside makeshift memorials for Bennett. Darren Bennett, an uncle, told the crowd that no one ever had “anything negative to say about Colin Bennett.”

Darren Bennett reminded those in attendance of Colin’s smile, a grin that he wore regularly. “It’s not fair,” Bennett said.

Anyone with information about the other vehicle involved should call Tonganoxie police at 913-369-3754.

Operation 100 News contributed to this report.