Highway patrol: Dead man may have jumped from wrong-way pickup

A Jackson, Tennessee, man who was found dead on the shoulder of Interstate 55 in Scott County on Thursday may have jumped from a pickup traveling north in the highway’s southbound lanes, the Missouri State Highway Patrol said Tuesday.

The body of Claude L. Nix, 42, was found on the inside shoulder of the interstate near mile marker 88.

He suffered skull fractures and a broken neck, Scott County Coroner Scott Amick said Tuesday.

“Probably the broken neck is what killed him,” he said, adding it could be several months before he receives the autopsy results.

The driver of the pickup, Myron Lee Tillman, 41, of Lilbourn, Missouri, was arrested early Friday morning after involving police in a 23-mile chase Thursday afternoon in his underwear, traveling the wrong way on Interstate 55, according to a release from the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff’s Department.

The patrol’s Sgt. Clark Parrott said Tillman told officers Nix had jumped out of the truck. But Parrott said the patrol was still investigating the case to determine the chain of events leading to Nix’s death.

Tillman was arrested and charged Friday with misdemeanors in relation to the chase Thursday that tied up traffic for hours and initiated a manhunt involving search dogs and a helicopter.

As of Tuesday, Tillman had not been charged in connection with Nix’s death.

The probable-cause statement filed by highway patrol Sgt. J. McCullough said Tillman’s family members told investigators Tillman had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and had not been taking his medication.

Police said Tillman presents a threat to society because of his mental illness, adding “Tillman traveled the wrong direction on the interstate for 23 miles without realizing he was on the wrong side of the roadway, and would have continued on if he hadn’t been involved in the crash that disabled his vehicle.”

Tillman crashed and fled at the 111 mile-marker off I-55 near Cape County Cowboy Church on Thursday after colliding with another vehicle before coming to a stop between the interstate and outer road. He ran, wearing only his underwear.

According to the news release, a nearby resident called the sheriff’s department Friday morning and reported a man fitting Tillman’s description had knocked on their door asking to come inside.

The resident did not allow Tillman inside. A deputy responded, confirmed it was Tillman and took him into custody without issue, according to the statement.

Tillman was involved in a bank robbery in 2001 in New Madrid County, according to newspaper archives. He was charged with armed robbery and armed criminal action at the time of the incident.

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