Two men injured when SUV goes into pond

MOREHOUSE, Mo. -- A Bernie, Mo., motorist and his Morehouse passenger were seriously injured after their vehicle went into a pond Monday in New Madrid County.

According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the accident occurred at 4:08 p.m. on County Road 824, three miles east of Morehouse, as westbound motorist Eric L. Shell, 33, of Bernie ran his sport utility vehicle off the road, struck a tree and came to rest in a pond. Shell and his 27-year-old passenger, Robert D. Buckley of Morehouse, were both ejected from the vehicle. They were air lifted to Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau.

The two occupants reported there was a third person in the vehicle who was unaccounted for, said Capt. Ken Dicus of the Sikeston Department of Public Safety, which also investigated the crash.

A search was called off about two hours later when the third person was located elsewhere and officials learned he was not in the vehicle at the time of the accident, Dicus said.