Deputy could not see man in road before deadly Miller County collision, report says

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Miller County deputy told investigators that she could not see a man standing in the middle of a highway before a deadly November collision, according to an official report.

The name of the 26-year-old deputy -- 25 at the time of the crash -- is redacted in the report, as is that of the victim. She hit a 26-year-old man in her patrol vehicle -- a 2024 Ford Explorer -- the night of Nov. 21. The report says the man was standing on the road and that the deputy's sight was affected by oncoming headlights.

"I was passing another car, their lights kind of blinded me," the deputy says in the report. "When I passed them and I finally got my vision back I just saw a black figure like in the middle of the road."

The deputy said she knew that she hit something and discovered the man when she turned around. She tried to give him emergency aid, the report says.

The man was taken to University Hospital by helicopter, where he later died.