VAN BUREN MAN KILLED NEAR BLUFF

A Van Buren man was killed and two pedestrians suffered moderate injuries in separate accidents investigated by the Missouri State Highway Patrol Monday.

The fatality occurred at 9:15 a.m. on U.S. Highway 60, nine miles northwest of Poplar Bluff. Killed in the three-vehicle accident was one of the drivers, Jo D. Smalley, 76.

Smalley's passengers, Albert W. Smalley, 51, and Ruth Hoagland, 49, both of Van Buren, were taken to area hospitals with serious injuries.

A highway patrol spokesman said Jo Smalley's westbound vehicle crossed the center line and struck an eastbound vehicle driven by Claude A. Dill, 63, of Poplar Bluff. Dill's passenger, Annette Dill, 54, of Poplar Bluff, sustained moderate injuries.

Also involved was a westbound vehicle driven by Michael K. Hollowell, 39, of Poplar Bluff. Hollowell sustained serious injuries when his vehicle struck the Dill vehicle in the rear and overturned.

The other accident occurred on Route W at Fruitland at 7:50 a.m. The driver of the single vehicle was Adam W. Wallis, 19, of Jackson. Pedestrians Brenda K. Glenn, 45, of Jackson and Denise B. Cramer, 43, of Jackson both sustained moderate injuries and were taken to Southeast Missouri Hospital.

The highway patrol spokesman said the accident occurred after a temporary spare tire came off Wallis' vehicle. The lockout hub struck Glenn as she was standing in a driveway, he said.

Willis' vehicle then ran off the roadway and struck Cramer, who was getting out of her car on the parking lot of North Elementary School, the spokesman said.