Motorcycle crash kills Centralia man in Cole County

COLE COUNTY, Mo. (KMIZ)

Editor's Note: The spelling of a crash victims name has been corrected.

A Centralia man died Saturday afternoon after a motorcycle crash in Cole County, according to the crash report from Missouri State Highway Patrol Troop F.

52-year-old William E. Nichols was driving the motorcycle during the crash. He was pronounced dead at the scene, and his passenger, 51-year-old Melinda J. Swanson, was flown to University Hospital with serious injuries.

This crash happened around 3 Saturday afternoon.

The two were headed southbound on Route B next to Osage Bend Road when, according to the crash report, Nichols lost control of the motorcycle on a curve. The motorcycle went off-road and both the driver and passenger were thrown from the bike when they hit a ditch. Nichols and Swanson hit a fence after being thrown from the motorcycle.

The crash report says the motorcycle was traveling too fast.

This is the sixth death Troop F has responded to in July and the 42nd in 2022.