WRECKS CLAIM 3 MORE LIVES

Three more area residents were killed Saturday in accidents, bringing to eight the number of fatalities on the road to since Friday.

Joda Griggs, 16, of Chaffee was killed when the 1970 Dodge he was driving south on Scott County Route RA was hit head-on by another vehicle as they crested a hill. The accident occurred at 11:05 p.m., one mile east of Chaffee.

Griggs and a passenger, Dennis M. Graviett, 15, of Chaffee were hit when a northbound 1986 Chevrolet driven by Justin A. Dunning, 22, of Delta strayed over the center line, according to a spokesman for the Missouri State Highway Patrol. Graviett sustained moderate injuries and was taken to Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau.

Police did not know the extent of Dunning's injuries. He was not admitted to an area hospital. They said no one involved in the accident was wearing a seat belt.

John Duval, 27, of St. Mary was killed when he apparently lost control of his car, the Highway Patrol said. The accident happened on Route T in rural Perry County three miles west of Route CC.

Authorities said Duval was traveling west on Route T at 9 p.m. Saturday when his car ran off the south side of the road and overturned several times. A passenger in the car, Benjamin W. Walker, 19, of Ste. Genevieve was taken to Perry County Hospital with moderate injuries.

Again, neither person was wearing a seat belt.

Dale F. Hudson, 60, of Perryville was killed in Jefferson County about noon Saturday. Hudson was driving a 1983 Chevrolet pickup north on Interstate 55 near Route M when a driver on the other side of the four-lane highway lost control of his car and crashed into Hudson's.

Alfred E. Fuchs, 74, of Imperial was also killed when his 1992 Toyota pickup struck a guard rail while he traveling south on I-55. The vehicle strayed across both southbound lanes, became airborne in the median and crashed into Hudson's vehicle, a Highway Patrol spokesman said.

A passenger in Hudson's car, Linda L. Vaughn, 46, of St. Mary, sustained minor injuries and was taken to Jefferson County Hospital.

Five more Southeast Missourians were killed in separate accidents over a six-hour span Friday night to Saturday morning.

Tracy Holder, 29, of Scott County was killed Friday night on Route M near Chaffee in a head-on collision with a vehicle driven by Perry Gregory, 44, of Dexter. Gregory also died a short while later.

Robert Welker, 44, of Marble Hill and Kevin Brewington, 40, of Marquand were killed on Route OO near Burfordville in a single-vehicle accident at 12:30 a.m. Saturday.

Edward Dwayne Brumagin, 32, of Cape Girardeau was killed at 12:45 a.m. Saturday as he was driving south on I-55 near the Nash Road exit in Scott County. His vehicle was hit head-on by a car traveling north in the southbound lane.