39-year-old pedestrian killed by truck on Interstate 55

Cape Girardeau police are investigating the death of a pedestrian on Interstate 55, trying to determine how James H. Webb ended up in the path of a oncoming truck.

The Charleston, Mo., man was struck by a northbound Federal Express box truck underneath the Route K overpass on Thursday. Paramedics began CPR on Webb, 39, but he was pronounced dead at St. Francis Medical Center, said Cape Girardeau County Coroner Mike Hurst.

The accident was reported to Cape Girardeau police about 4:50 p.m. Police spokesman Jason Selzer said officers found the Web lying along the side of the interstate, and the truck was parked in the grassy median. The driver of the truck was not injured.

Three men found at the scene of the accident were taken into protective custody because they were intoxicated, Selzer said. It was unknown Thursday evening whether the men are local or their relationship to Webb.

They will have to be released from custody after 12 hours unless there is a possibility of criminal charges. If no charges are filed, the men will have to be released after 20 hours.

The police also are talking to several drivers who witnessed the accident. Selzer said it is unlikely that the Federal Express driver will be charged or cited.

Part of the investigation involves whether the men may have been living under Route K. Hurst said investigators uncovered several empty cans and other evidence someone lived there, although Webb supposedly was living with his mother in Charleston.

"Now we have to figure out whether this was an accident, a suicide or somebody helping him," Hurst said.