A 49-year-old man from Dallas killed Feb. 16 in a freeway collision in Kapolei was buried Saturday at his family gravesite in Newkirk, Okla.

Family and friends are still shocked by the death of Royce W. Tomlin and frustrated by the lack of information available about the accident, said Granbel Tomlin, who did his brother's eulogy.

"Nobody ever imagined he would die like this, so far away," Granbel Tomlin said in a telephone interview yesterday from Oklahoma. "The only real information we have are from your newspapers so we really don't know how and why it happened. We've asked but police can't tell us anything. We're still grasping for answers."

Royce Tomlin worked for a Dallas-based company as a certified welding concrete inspector and came to Hawai'i in October 2006 to do a number of different jobs, his brother said. "I know he was elated to be in Hawai'i and during his time off enjoyed seeing the sights," Granbel Tomlin said.

Police said Tomlin was driving a sport utility vehicle westbound on the H-1 Freeway. Tomlin's truck sideswiped another SUV, hit a barrier and flipped over.

The second truck also flipped over after striking a guardrail.

The surviving driver, a 46-year-old man from Kalihi, tried to leave the scene on foot but was arrested 35 minutes after the 7:15 p.m. collision was reported to police. He was arrested for investigation of first-degree negligent homicide and failure to give information and render aid, and was released pending further investigation.

Reach Rod Ohira at rohira@honoluluadvertiser.com.