3 dead in Highway 54 crash Monday afternoon

MEXICO, Mo. (KMIZ)

Mexico Public Safety Department officers say three people are dead after a crash on Highway 54 Monday afternoon.

A release from the department said two vehicles crashed just south of the Highway 54 and E. Liberty Street intersection.

Around 1:20 p.m., department officials say 82-year-old David Brenneke was driving east on the highway, crossed the centerline and crashed into 20-year-old Cole Grimes, of Vandalia, who was driving in the opposite direction.

Officers used equipment to pull Grimes from his vehicle but he was later pronounced dead. Crews treated him at the scene and called in a helicopter to fly Grimes to the hospital but it was not used.

The release said Brenneke and his passenger 85-year-old Joyce Brenneke, both of Iowa, had died before crews responded to the wreck.

Crews closed the highway for over an hour following the crash.