Two jailed in fatal Moniteau County crash

Two California, Missouri, residents have been charged with drug distribution after a Sept. 25 fatal crash in Moniteau County.

The Moniteau County Sheriff’s Office said Joshua J. Kirchner, 22, and Abigail M. Heiland, 21, were in the county jail Friday on suspicion of distributing methamphetamine. They each had a $75,000 bond.

The crash killed Steven Smart, 60, of Tebbetts, Missouri, when Kirchner’s vehicle hit two other vehicles on Highway 50 just west of California.

Deputies at the crash scene were notified by medics that either Kirchner or Heiland had kept asking about a blag bag and seemed concerned about its contents, the sheriff’s office said in a news release. Deputies could smell marijuana when they found the bag and got consent to search it, the release said. Inside they found methamphetamine, marijuana, digital scales and packaging material, according to the sheriff’s office.

Kirchner and Heiland were taken to a hospital from the crash scene. They were arrested a few days later, according to online court records.