Two people suffered fatal injuries when their vehicle skidded into the path of a semitruck at 2:40 p.m. Friday on U.S. 60, a mile west of Cabool in Texas County, according to the Missouri State highway Patrol.
Cpl. T.L. Brown with Troop G of the patrol, Willow Springs, reported a westbound 2004 Ford Explorer driven by Larae S. English, 31, Bridgeport, Ala., ran off the left side of the road and rolled into the path of an eastbound 2024 Kenworth T680 driven by Michael Leggs, 54, Selma, Ala.
Texas County Deputy Coroner Brent Honeycutt pronounced English dead at 3:10 p.m. at the scene. Christopher J. Thomas, 42, Cowan, Tenn., was a passenger in the Ford and pronounced dead by county Coroner Marie Lasater at 4:42 p.m. while he was en route for medical treatment, the patrol reported.
No injuries were reported for Leggs, and all three wore seat belts, according to the patrol.
The deaths of English and Thomas were the ninth and 10th traffic fatalities recorded this year in the nine-county Troop G area, compared to 12 in the same time frame in 2023.
Brown was assisted at the scene by Tpr. N.B. Poynter; Cpls. J.D. Piccinino, J.R. Sellars and S.J. Crewse, who helped reconstruct the scene; the Cabool Fire Department; and Crash Team Sgt. M.K. Eden.
