Crashes on Sunday and Monday claimed the lives of a man and woman from Elizabeth, Ark., and killed a Texas County man, leaving his passenger with serious injuries, reports the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
Four people were killed, including two from Elizabeth, Ark., when an SUV collided with a motorhome on Interstate 44.
The crash happened at 12:57 p.m. Sunday, 2 miles east of Bourbon in Crawford County, Troop I Cpl. N.W. Summers and Major Crash Investigation Unit Msgt. P.W. Meyers reported. Troop I is headquartered in Rolla.
A westbound 2004 Workhorse W22 RV driven by a 67-year-old man from Elizabeth went through the median and struck an eastbound 2015 Nissan Murano driven by a 65-year-old man from Bourbon, causing the vehicles to catch fire, the patrol reported.
Both drivers and their passengers, a 66-year-old woman from Elizabeth in the RV and a 64-year-old woman from Bourbon in the Nissan, were pronounced dead at the scene by Crawford County Coroner Darren Dake at 2:59 p.m.
It was not known if any of the deceased wore seat belts at the time of the collision.
The deaths were the first four traffic fatalities for the month of June and the ninth through 12th such fatalities to date in 2025 in the six-county Troop I area, compared to 19 in the same time frame last year.
Summers and Meyers were assisted at the scene by Cpl. J.T. Peart, Cpl. B.S. Silverthorn, Tprs. J.E. Ebeling and C.W. Tierney, the Sullivan and Bourbon fire departments, the Crawford County
Sheriff’s Office and the Cuba and Bourbon police departments.
On Monday in Troop G, a Bucyrus man was killed and his passenger seriously injured when their vehicle was struck by a box truck.
Tpr. Z.B. Tate with Troop G, Willow Springs, reported the collision happened at 10:20 a.m. Monday on North Highway 17, 5 miles north of Houston in Texas County.
A southbound 2014 Dodge Journey driven by the Bucyrus resident, an 80-year-old man, was stopped in a construction zone when it was hit from behind by a 2021 International driven by a 41-year-old man from St. Louis.
The Dodge’s driver and passenger, a 79-year-old woman, also from Bucyrus, were wearing seat belts, the report shows; the woman was flown by air ambulance to Cox South Medical Center in Springfield for treatment.
Douglas County Deputy Coroner Rowdy Douglas pronounced driver dead at 10:25 a.m. at the scene.
The driver of the box truck was also wearing a seat belt and was taken by Texas County Memorial Hospital Ambulance to TCMH in Houston for treatment of minor injuries, the report shows.
It is the 16th traffic fatality this year in the nine-county Troop G area, compared to 10 at this time in 2024.
Tate was assisted at the scene by Tpr. C.K. Johnson, the Texas County Sheriff’s Office and Major Crash Team Tpr. J.V. Bondurant.
The patrol no longer identifies crash victims in its public reports, citing the possibility the information could be used to perpetrate scams against victims.
