WATSON, Mo. – A tragic kidnapping and police chase ended with a deadly crash on Interstate 29 in Missouri Sunday morning, resulting in the deaths of three people, including a man from Bellevue.
The Fremont County Sheriff’s Department reported receiving a call about a woman at Grape Community Hospital for a domestic assault. She told authorities that she and her 1-year-old were abducted by a 29-year-old man driving a Kia. The woman was dropped off at the hospital, but her child remained with the suspect in the vehicle.
She described the man as fleeing Nebraska law enforcement and heading into Iowa, stating that he was both homicidal and suicidal.
Fremont County Deputies were alerted that Iowa State Patrol was pursuing the vehicle on Highway 29. The man was driving south in the northbound lanes while Iowa State Patrol chased him in the southbound lanes.
When the suspect crossed into Missouri, Missouri authorities were notified. Near the 123-mile marker on Interstate 29, the Kia Sorento collided head-on with a Ford Focus traveling north, which was attempting to pass a tractor-trailer. The Kia then hit a bridge abutment and caught fire.
The Ford veered off the road, overturned, and ejected the driver, coming to rest on its roof. A tractor-trailer swerved to avoid the crash, striking a Chevrolet driven by a Fremont County Deputy traveling south in the northbound lanes. The deputy, a 39-year veteran of law enforcement, rescued the 1-year-old from the burning Kia.
Three people were pronounced dead at the scene, including the 29-year-old man from Bellevue. The 1-year-old was taken to the hospital with moderate injuries.
The 18-year-old driver of the Ford and an 18-year-old female passenger, both from Missouri, were also killed. A third passenger in the Ford was airlifted to Nebraska Medicine with serious injuries.
The names of the deceased are being withheld pending notification of next of kin, according to the Missouri State Patrol.
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