Fatal Accident on Highway 63

A foggy morning in Mid-Missouri brought tragedy today. When I arrived at the station around 1 am, the producer and I were listening to the police scanner about a car accident on Highway 63 south, just south of Stadium Boulevard. We heard it was a rollover and confirmed the seriousness of the situation when multiple morning station staff came in describing emergency vehicles and lights lined up along the highway at the scene. I grabbed a camera and a tripod immediately and headed down the highway.

When I arrived, I made sure to put on my neon safety vest( it is the law now when we are on the scene of an accident) and tried to get as close as I could to shoot the scene. One of the fire personnel was extremely helpful however very adamant that I do not get any tape of the car since they were still concerned about a victim caught inside. No one was able to speak with me at the time about the accident because investigators were still searching and documenting the scene. I stayed for about an hour to shoot the investigation as well as the surrounding trucks and lights along the highway. There were about 12 police and fire personnel waiting at the accident for further instruction from the investigator. I was slightly nervous approaching the scene, but I found a safe place to park and a good place shoot my video for my live shot later in the morning. Shortly after I arrived, officials covered the car with a sheet due to the victim inside. After I was done getting video and no one was available to give me an update, I headed back to the station.

Back at the station, I quickly wrote a few scripts for my 4:30 am and 5:30 am live hits and live teases, as well as worked with another reporter to cut my video from the scene and get it ready for the show. My live truck operator headed to the scene to set up my live shot and I followed.

Upon arrival at the scene around 4 am, my operator saw two tow trucks removing the car and by about 4:15 all fire and police personnel had cleared the scene. However in my later live shots when the sun began to rise, tire tracks, debris and the trees where the car was vertically resting after the rollover were visible behind me.

We then learned that the accident was fatal however, did not have anything more about the victim before 7 am when the morning show ended. KOMU 8 News stayed with the story to find out more about the cause of the accident and the victim. We now know it was a 24-year old Columbia woman who was not wearing a seat belt and lost control of her vehicle, a yellow Chevy Cobalt. Stories like this are good experience for a reporter to cover, however it is very hard to remove myself completely from the situation. My heart goes out to the victim's family. When something like this happens it is always a reminder of how dangerous driving can be and how important it is to remain alert and safe while on the road.

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