Whitewater woman dies in deer-related accident

A Whitewater woman died in a fatal accident Tuesday night after the car she was driving struck a deer on Highway 61 north of Shawneetown.

Joann Jaco, 47, was pronounced dead at the scene. Her husband, 49-year-old Richard P. Jaco, was taken by ambulance to Saint Francis Medical Center with minor injuries.

According to a Missouri Highway Patrol crash report, the accident occurred when a 1997 Ford driven by 71-year-old Leon T. Mueller of Frohna, Mo., struck a deer around 8:40 p.m. Tuesday, sending the animal airborne and into the path of a 2000 Mercury driven by Joann Jaco. The deer came through the windshield and struck Jaco.

For more information, log on semissourian.com later today or read Thursday's Southeast Missourian.