Four traffic fatalities in Troop E

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.