Area women killed in separate auto accidents

A Wappapello, Mo., woman died in a two-vehicle accident on South Kingshighway in Cape Girardeau on Monday.

Police identified her as Lora I. Ward, 63. She was a passenger in the car driven by Vernon L. Ward, 65, of Wappapello. Police said the Ward vehicle was stopped at a traffic light at Kingshighway and Southern Expressway at 4:14 p.m. when it was struck in the rear by a vehicle driven by Michael M. Robert, 59, of Cape Girardeau.

Police said Lora Ward was taken to St. Francis Medical Center where she was pronounced dead. Vernon Ward also was taken to St. Francis with injuries. Robert had minor injuries and refused treatment.

In a second accident on Monday, a 42-year-old Bloomfield, Mo., woman died in a one-vehicle accident at 1 p.m. on Stoddard County Road 524, two miles east of Bloomfield.

Police identified the woman as Doris F. West. She was eastbound in her vehicle when it ran off the road and overturned in a water-filled ditch.