Allenville father is killed in head-on collision

An Allenville man was killed Thursday morning when his 1988 GMC pickup truck collided head-on with a tractor-trailer on Highway 25 just north of Delta.

Travis Graviett, 23, was pronounced dead at the scene.

His red truck had flipped and was lying upside down in a large ditch on the west side of the road. The cab was charred from a fire that Delta firefighters extinguished when they arrived on the scene.

Cape Girardeau Coroner John Clifton said he believed Graviett died of internal injuries and not from the fire.

According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, Graviett crossed the center line and struck the oncoming truck. The other truck was a 14-wheel tank truck used for pumping and hauling solid waste, authorities said. It came to a stop on its side on the east side of the road.

The driver of the tractor-trailer was Norman Shelby, 63, of Advance. Trooper Todd Turlington said Shelby walked away from the accident, but was taken by a private vehicle to a nearby hospital with what looked like a possible broken nose.

The pumping truck spilled some diesel fuel onto the highway.

Highway 25 was closed for about three hours while the accident was cleared.

According to Graviett's aunt, Sandra Ressel, Graviett was on his way home from work. She said he was working the swing shift at a Spartech facility and it was the first night shift in the rotation.

She said her nephew had an 8-month-old daughter as well as a fiancee.

"He was a really good kid," she said. "He was really sweet. He was loved by a lot of family. He was just out there working hard trying to provide for his family."

She said Travis would call her house often to talk to his cousins and he wouldn't hang up the phone until he talked with Phillip Ressel, who has muscular dystrophy and is confined to a wheelchair. Ressel is the son of Anita Hartle and Randy Graviett.

Travis was also close to his brothers, especially his older brother, Kevin, Sandra Ressel said.

"He came from a big family that's going to miss him a lot," she said.

bmiller@semissourian.com

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