Online extra: Fatalities mar July 4 holiday in Missouri; no fatal incidents reported in Vernon County

Nevada Daily Mail

Three people died in traffic crashes during the 2012 July Fourth holiday counting period from 6 p.m., July 3, to 11:59 p.m., Wednesday, July 4; but none of the fatalities took place in Vernon County.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol worked 99 crashes in which three people died and 45 were injured. Troopers arrested 59 people for driving while intoxicated during this year's counting period.

Last year, troopers worked 259 traffic crashes in which eight people died and 130 were injured. Statewide, in 2011, there were 1,055 traffic crashes, in which 14 people died and 478 were injured. Troopers made 168 driving while intoxicated arrests during the 2011 78-hour counting period.

There were no boating fatalities during the 2012 July Fourth holiday; however, troopers investigated six boating crashes involving two injuries. One person drowned on Missouri waterways and two people were electrocuted. Troopers also arrested seven people for boating while intoxicated.

Of the three fatalities investigated by the Missouri State Highway Patrol, one fatality occurred in the Troop C, Weldon Spring area, Troop D, Springfield area, and Troop I, Rolla area.

All three fatalities occurred on Wednesday.

Terry L. Daugherty, 37, of Bourbon, Mo., died when the vehicle he was driving travelled off the left side of the roadway on a curve and struck a traffic sign. The vehicle then came back across the roadway and struck a tree before coming to rest in a creek. Daugherty was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash, which occurred on Route N, eight tenths of a mile south of Bourbon. Crawford County Coroner Paul Hutson pronounced Daugherty dead at the scene of the crash.

James M. Pace, 33, of Troy, Mo., died when the vehicle he was driving struck the back of a tractor trailer that was stopped on Interstate 70, on the Blanchette Bridge in St. Charles County. Pace was wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash. He was pronounced dead at the scene by St. Charles County Ambulance personnel.

Phillip S. Maynard, 20, of Republic, Mo., died when the motorcycle he was driving ran off of the roadway and ejected him. Maynard was wearing a helmet at the time of the crash. The crash occurred on Farm Road 144, six miles north of Republic, in Greene County. He was pronounced dead by Greene County Medical Examiner David Brown.

The drowning over the July Fourth holiday occurred on Wednesday, as well. A 40-year-old man from southwest Missouri drowned while swimming at Bull Shoals Lake at the 78 mile marker in Taney County. The victim was swimming when he began to struggle, the patrol said. He was helped to the shore, where cardio pulmonary resuscitation was administered. Emergency medical crews arrived on the scene but were unable to revive the subject. He was pronounced dead by Taney County Coroner Kevin Tweety. The victim's name had not been released as of Monday evening because the next of kin notification had not taken place.

On July 4, two juveniles were electrocuted while swimming near a private dock at the 6.5 mile marker in the Gravois Arm of the Lake of the Ozarks. Alexandra M. Anderson, 13, and Brayden M. Anderson, 8, of Ashland, Mo., were shocked by an undetermined source of electricity.

Several adults were able to remove the children from the water and start CPR before emergency medical services arrived. They were transported to Lake Regional Hospital in Osage Beach, where they were pronounced dead.