Authorities release name of Cape Girardeau man who died after being struck by semi

On Friday, police released the name of the man killed in an Interstate 55 accident.

Cape Girardeau County Coroner John Clifton said Jerry Finley, 71, of Cape Girardeau was killed when he was struck by a semitrailer Thursday night.

According to police at the scene of the accident, Finley got out of his pickup truck after it broke down in the northbound lane south of exit 93. He was hit by a semitrailer that swerved to miss him.

Finley was struck a second time by a 2008 Buick that dragged him under the car and then came to rest in the median near the northbound lanes.

Charles Jasper of Milwaukee, Wis. was driving the Buick, said Sgt. Jason Selzer of the Cape Girardeau Police Department. Paul Lambert of Festus, Mo., was driving the semitrailer. Lambert, an independent owner-operator, was traveling with his wife and three children at the time.

The semitrailer came to rest in the median and was prevented from entering the southbound lanes by the guard cables on the west side of the median.

Selzer said there were four to five other minor accidents related to the crash. No other injuries were reported.

Police closed one lane of Interstate 55 for about two hours Friday to reconstruct the accident as part of the investigation.

"Right now there doesn't appear to be any wrongdoing on the part of any of the other drivers," Selzer said.