Six killed on Missouri roads during Labor Day weekend

By The Associated Press

Traffic accidents in Missouri during the Labor Day holiday weekend had claimed the lives of six people.

Verlene Verseman, 43, of Perryville, was killed Sunday night in Perry County. The Missouri State Highway Patrol said she was a passenger in a vehicle that collided with a pickup truck on U.S. 61 south of Longtown.

Sharron DeAngelo, 54, of House Springs, died Sunday night in a Franklin County accident. The patrol said she was riding in a pickup truck that failed to stop at a sign and pulled into the path of another pickup on a county road. Four others were seriously injured, with three of them flown to a hospital in Creve Coeur.

Daniel Griffin, 43, of Maryland Heights, died Sunday afternoon when his motorcycle ran off a county road 12 miles west of Cherokee Pass in Madison County and hit some trees, the patrol said.

Jevin Countryman, 19, of Monroe City, was killed early Sunday when he lost control of his car on a gravel road in Monroe County, the patrol said. Countryman was thrown from the car and trapped under it after it overturned several times, the patrol said.

A man died Saturday evening when he drove off the road during a drag race and hit a tree, splitting his truck in two, authorities said.

Chad Strubberg, 19, of Washington, Mo., died at a hospital after the accident, which happened Saturday evening on a Franklin County road.

The patrol said Strubberg was racing another vehicle when he crested a hill and saw an oncoming vehicle. He overcorrected, drove off the road and hit the tree head-on.

A 15-year-old girl was killed Friday night on Interstate 70 in St. Charles County.

Rebecca Inahara, of St. Charles, was a passenger in a car that went off the road and hit the median wall near St. Peters, the patrol said.

The 16-year-old driver was trying to pass another vehicle, but could not get around and lost control, the patrol said. The driver was uninjured, but two other passengers in the car suffered minor injuries.

Last year 20 people were killed in accidents on Missouri roads during the Labor Day weekend. Twelve people were killed in 1999.