There were nine deaths on Missouri roadways over the Thanksgiving holiday counting period—from 6 pm Wednesday November 25 to 11:59 pm on Sunday November 29.
Troopers investigated 544 crashes, which included 150 injuries. They arrested 99 people for driving while impaired.
Last year, there were 18 fatalities over the Thanksgiving holiday. Troopers investigated 319 traffic crashes, which included 109 injuries. In addition, troopers arrested 92 people for driving while impaired during the Thanksgiving counting period in 2014.
Two fatalities occurred in the Troop D, Springfield area. Lonnie Foster, 53 of Nixa, died on Thanksgiving Day when the vehicle he was driving ran off U.S. Highway 160 in Highlandville and overturned. He wasn’t wearing a seatbelt and was ejected from the vehicle.
And 16-year-old Vincenzo Keith of Nixa died Sunday when the vehicle in which he was a passenger ran off the roadway, off the side of a bridge and overturned in the water. Keith was wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash.
There was one boating crash. No boating fatalities, no boating while intoxicated arrests and no drownings were reported during the 2015 Thanksgiving holiday counting period.