TWO DIE WHEN CAR OVERTURNS IN CREEK

Two Cape Girardeau residents were found dead Sunday morning in a car that had turned upside down in Cape LaCroix Creek near Southern Expressway.

Police Sgt. Carl Kinnison said the dead were identified as Tomeika Latrice Patterson, 20, and her uncle, John Henry Patterson, 32, both of 133 S. Benton.

He said a passing motorist called police Sunday about 9 a.m. to report seeing a car overturned in about 4 feet of water. The bodies were discovered when a tow truck operator pulled the car out of the water about an hour later, Kinnison said.

"We think they may have had the accident sometime after 3 a.m.," he said. "That's based on what time they were seen by other family members."

Kinnison said investigators believe the driver, Tomeika, was eastbound on Southern Expressway when she lost control of the car and it overturned in the creek.

Cape Girardeau County Coroner John Carpenter said both victims died from fractures to the cervical spine. He said the car became airborne and hit the ground several times before overturning in the creek. Neither of the passengers wore seat belts, he said.

"They were dead before they hit the water," Carpenter said.

Their deaths were the first to occur in a traffic accident in the city this year.