News Release



For further information please contact:

Sergeant Paul J. Reinsch

(573) 751-1000

February 28, 2005

050204



EMPHASIS: Fatality Crash in Cole County





On February 28, 2005, at approximately 6:30 a.m. a fatality crash occurred on U.S. 50 in Cole County as a westbound tractor trailer lost control, traveled off the right side of the road and struck a highway sign. The driver of the vehicle, Dennis D. Wilson, age 48, of Rolla, Missouri, overcorrected and the truck and trailer overturned onto its side. The tractor trailer struck four eastbound vehicles before coming to rest on the eastbound shoulder.

Fatally injured was James R. Flaugher, age 46, of California, Missouri. Mr. Flaugher was pronounced dead at the scene by the Cole County Coroner. Terry Kendrick, age 46, of Clarksburg, Missouri, sustained serious injuries and was flown by helicopter to University Medical Center in Columbia, Missouri. Wilson, Russell Yarnell, age 49; Jon Blankenship, age 33; Lee Anderson, age 20; and Mark Porter, age 28, all of California, Missouri, sustained minor injuries in the crash and were transported to Capital Region Hospital in Jefferson City, Missouri.



The Missouri State Highway Patrol Major Crash Team has been activated and is reconstructing the crash.