Man, woman from Washington state killed in motorcycle crash with semi-truck; second reported crash kills truck driver
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Mo. (KMIZ)
Three people have died in two separate crashes in the same area of Interstate 70 on Monday, the Missouri State Highway Patrol confirmed.
A crash report from the Missouri State Highway Patrol in one of the crashes details how two people from Washington state died in a motorcycle crash.
The report says a man and a woman from Kennewick, Washington, were sitting on the 2010 Harley Davison Street Glide while it was stopped in traffic “from a crash ahead.”
A 2020 Freightliner truck – driven by a 60-year-old Fulton man – rear-ended the bike, the report says. Both the man and the woman were pronounced dead at the scene by a paramedic. They were both 36 years old, the report says. Both people wore a helmet. The truck driver wore a helmet and did not suffer any injuries.
The pair’s bodies were brought to Schlanker Funeral Home, the report says.
A crash involving two tractor-trailers at mile marker 181 in Montgomery County led to one of the drivers getting killed. The second driver is injured. MSHP’s Troop F – which covers much of Mid-Missouri – wrote that the tractor-trailer crash occurred before a double-fatal crash with a motorcycle.
🚨Second Fatal Crash on WB I-70🚨
— MSHP Troop F (@MSHPTrooperF) August 3, 2026
Troopers are investigating a second fatal crash involving two tractor trailers at the 181 mile marker, in Montgomery County.
One driver is deceased and the other is injured.
(This crash happened just prior to the double fatality crash.) pic.twitter.com/uHnoMqnRDN
An ABC 17 News reporter on scene saw two semi trucks, one on the right shoulder with a large dent in the back of it, and another semi truck on left side of the road in the grassy median.
MSHP Sgt. Kyle Green said the driver of the truck with the dent had minor injuries and was taken to a hospital. The driver of the truck in the median was killed in the crash.
The crash between a motorcycle and a box truck happened about a mile behind, and shortly after the semi trucks crashed.
Two people were on a motorcycle and were killed near mile marker 182.2 when the driver drove into the back of a box truck, Green said. The box truck driver was not injured.
The Missouri Department of Transportation traveler information map indicated the westbound lanes could be closed until about 4 p.m.
An ABC 17 News reporter noticed traffic was cleared up around 5:30 p.m.
Traffic was a major component in both crashes. Earlier Monday morning, a different semi truck caught on fire, causing congestion and forcing traffic to start and stop moving.
"Traffic had backed up for miles due to the original truck fire, and at the back of the backup is where these crashes occurred, so they were driving upon that stopped traffic that the person ahead of them was able to stop in time. For whatever reason, the second individual wasn't able to," Green said.
He said it was the same case with the motorcycle crash.
A news release from MoDOT said the road would be closed for an undetermined length of time.
Other details about the crash were not immediately available.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol said at about 11:30 a.m. that the earlier truck fire was extinguished and crews were working to move the tractor-trailer from the interstate. The road was closed east of the New Florence/Hermann exit.
The westbound lanes reopened from the fire early Monday afternoon. But near the fire site, traffic was stalled again, starting a little before 2 p.m.
Green said the MSHP's crash team is investigating the crashes since both were deadly and involved commercial vehicles. He said the crashes are also being reconstructed.
"That process obviously takes longer than just a traditional crash investigated by a trooper," Green said.
