Four traffic fatalities in Troop E

Tuesday, January 6, 2009
By NOREEN HYSLOP Managing Editor

The first four fatalities in Troop E for the new year occurred within hours of each other on Saturday, Jan. 3. The wreck that accounted for the first death in 2009 took place west of Malden in Dunklin County at about 5 a.m. on Saturday and a fiery crash near Naylor in Ripley County at 8 p.m. Saturday claimed the lives of a Naylor man and two Oxly residents.

According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, 55-year-old Benjamin Stigall of Poplar Bluff was killed when he ran off the right side of J Highway, apparently over corrected and then drove off the left side of the roadway and struck a tree. The wreck occurred about 4.6 miles west of Malden.

Stigall was pronounced dead at the scene by the Dunklin County coroner. According to the Patrol, he was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the accident.

David L. Putman, 22, of Naylor, along with his two passengers, Casey M. Campbell, 12, and Joshua R. Harmon, 25, both from Oxly, were pronounced dead at the scene of an accident that occurred on Rt. 142 about one mile north of Naylor.

The Patrol states that the Putnam, driving a 1999 Ford truck, crossed the centerline on Rt. 142 and struck a second pickup truck driven by Nicholas B. Lepold, 26, also of Naylor. The Putnam vehicle overturned and subsequently burned, killing all three subjects in the vehicle.

Lepold sustained serious injuries in the wreck and was transported by helicopter to a Poplar Bluff medical facility. While it was confirmed that Lepold was not wearing a safety device, the Patrol could not determine if the three victims in the Putnam vehicle were restrained.

Comments

Note: The nature of the Internet makes it impractical for our staff to review every comment. If you feel that a comment is offensive, please Login or Create an account first, and then you will be able to flag a comment as objectionable. Please also note that those who post comments on dailystatesman.com may do so using a screen name, which may or may not reflect a website user's actual name. Readers should be careful not to assign comments to real people who may have names similar to screen names. Refrain from obscenity in your comments, and to keep discussions civil, don't say anything in a way your grandmother would be ashamed to read.

I GREW UP WITH JOSH AND SHARED A SPECIAL BOND WITH HIM AND IT HURTS ME GREATLY TO KNOW THAT HE IS GONE! I GUESS IT GOES TO SHOW THAT EVEN AT 25 WE CAN GO. I NEVER THOUGHT IT WOULD HAPPEN TO HIM. I HAVE SEEN OTHER PEOPLE DIE BUT OUT OF FAMILY AND FRIENDS JOSH HURT ME THE WORST . I LOVE YOU JOSH AND I PRAY YOU REST IN PEACE TILL WE MEET AGAIN ILL BE MISSIN YOU.

-- Posted by brokenangel83 on Fri, Jan 9, 2009, at 6:12 AM