MSHP Report
A ruptured tire was the cause of a three-vehicle accident on Missouri 22 west of Angell School Road in Boone County on Tuesday, August 10 at 4:10 p.m.
Fifty-three-year-old, Monte D Hayes, Moberly, was traveling eastbound when the front left tire of his 1993 GMC 6000 ruptured, causing pieces of his pickup to separate. Debris struck a westbound, 2018 Ford F-150 driven by Gregory M. Keene, 50, of Sturgeon.
Hayes made an abrupt move to the left, travelling off the north side of the roadway. Twenty-four-year-old, Rachael M. Hultz, Madison, was driving a 2013 Nissan Maxima, when she made an attempt to avoid the GMC by steering to the left. Hayes attempted to regain control of the truck and steered it to the right in an attempt to avoid a collision with the Nissan.
The front of Hayes’s vehicle struck the right side of the Nissan in the westbound lane and pushed the vehicle until both vehicles came to rest in the roadway.
Thirty-year-old Cassandra D. Simmerman, Clarence, an occupant in the Nissan, was pronounced dead at 4:29 p.m. by paramedic Bruce Grotewiel on the scene. She was taken to Boone County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Hultz was transported by ambulance to University Hospital in Columbia with serious injuries. The other two drivers did not face injuries.
Hayes was the only one not wearing a seatbelt.
The Nissan was totaled. Hayes’s vehicle had extensive damage and the F-150 had minor.
This is Troop F’s third fatality for August and 35th fatality for 2021.
