Patrol - Missouri wrecks kill four

At least four people died in traffic accidents around the state during the long holiday weekend, including two men who were thrown from a vehicle, the Missouri State Highway Patrol said.

Raymond Hartley, 22, of Holts Summit, and David Watson, 22, of Jefferson City, died about 1 a.m. Thursday after the car Hartley was driving went off Callaway County Route OO near Holts Summit. Althea Schmid, 34, of House Springs, was killed when the sport utility vehicle she was driving hit a tree along U.S. 50 near Loose Creek Thursday,. Editha Schwartzkopf, 39, of Princeton, died Wednesday following a crash near Bethany. Schwartzkopf was driving east when a westbound pickup truck crossed the center line and struck her car, causing it to catch fire, the patrol said.

Last year, 16 people were killed on Missouri roads during the Thanksgiving fatality counting period, between 6 p.m. Wednesday and midnight Sunday.