ACCIDENT CLAIMS LIVES OF COUPLE

PIEDMONT -- An Annapolis man and his wife were killed in a two-vehicle accident about five miles north of Piedmont Saturday afternoon.

David L. Hackworth, 28, and his wife, Donna S. Hackworth, 27, were killed when they were thrown from their vehicle following a head-on collision.

The accident occurred on Route 45 in Wayne County about 1 p.m.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol said the accident happened when the driver of the northbound Hackworth car applied brakes to avoid hitting a vehicle that had stopped on the highway.

The Hackworth car, authorities said, skidded into the southbound lane striking a southbound truck driven by Ronald L. Broeker, 51, of Cape Girardeau.

Broeker was transported to St. Francis Medical Center by air ambulance, where he was treated and released.

Authorities said they did not know who was driving the Hackworth car. The vehicle that had stopped on the highway was not located.

The fatalities were the 85th and 86th people killed in traffic accidents in the Troop E area of Southeast Missouri this year, the patrol said.