Head-On Collision Kills 5 Near Farmington, Missouri - August 06, 2009

Five people were killed late Saturday on Missouri Route OO southeast of Farmington, Missouri. The Missouri Highway Patrol reported that Bessie Barker, 59, her husband Walter, 57, and Norma Holloway, 60, were heading home from a high school reunion in nearby Madison County when they collided head-on with Yvonne Fulton, 46 and Gregory Fulton, 48, who were returning from a prayer service at Harvis Christian Centre in Park Hills. It appears that one of the cars caught fire, but the flames did not reach the victims.

Bessie and Walter Barker of Farmington and Norma Holloway of Arnold were pronounced dead at the scene. It was their car which was driving the wrong way on the highway according to the patrol. The Fultons, both from Farmington, were taken to hospitals, where they died on Sunday morning. They are survived by two adult daughters, and are described by the pastor of Harvis Christian Centre as elders of the church that were active in helping to care for families and visiting the sick. Gregory Fulton was also described as a friendly and hospitable person who also served as the church's parking lot and hospitality director.

Jim Coplin, The St. François County Coroner, said that authorities had found no skid marks at the accident site. According to the coroner, there were no witnesses to the collision, which occurred in an area surrounded by wooded farmland.

Highway OO is a two lane highway with no median. One day earlier, a teenager, Fallon N. Foss, of Fredericktown was killed on the same highway roughly one mile away from the accident. She had apparently pulled out of a driveway for a mobile home park into the path of a pickup truck.