Arkansas man killed, couple injured in crash

Jeff Lehr, The Joplin Globe, Mo.
·2 min read

Jul. 8—An Arkansas man was killed and a Lee's Summit couple injured in a three-vehicle crash at 1:15 p.m. Tuesday on Interstate 49, about 3 miles north of Nevada in Vernon County, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

One of the drivers, Naomi S. Bealer, 76, of Van Buren, Arkansas, was pronounced dead at the scene by the Vernon County coroner.

A second driver, Stephen L. Schafer, 67, and his passenger, Brenda L. Schafer, 64, were flown by medical helicopter to St. Luke's Hospital in Kansas City with serious injuries.

Bealer was driving a southbound car that crossed the interstate's center median into the northbound lanes and struck an SUV driven by Maria F. Campos, 25, of Houston. The Schafers' vehicle swerved but also struck Bealer's car before entering the median and catching fire, the patrol said.

—A Newton County deputy's patrol car struck and injured a cyclist at 2:02 a.m. Thursday on 32nd Street just east of the intersection with Connecticut Avenue, according to the Joplin Police Department.

The person riding the motorized bicycle, whose name was being withheld pending further investigation, was taken to a local hospital with serious injuries, police said in a news release.

The injured cyclist was eastbound in the outside lane of East 32nd Street when the deputy's vehicle ran into the bicycle from behind, police said.

—A man from Anderson was injured in a motorcycle crash at 8 a.m. Thursday on Ball Road, 5 miles west of Anderson in McDonald County, the state patrol said.

John R. Reyes, 33, was taken by ambulance to Freeman Hospital West in Joplin with moderate injuries.

He was operating an eastbound motorcycle when he failed to negotiate a turn at a T-intersection, struck a ditch and overturned, the patrol said.

—An 18-year-old Aurora woman was injured in a single-vehicle wreck at 6:32 p.m. Wednesday on Route K, about 200 feet outside Aurora city limits, the state patrol said.

Arianna D. Barton was taken by ambulance to Mercy Hospital Aurora with minor injuries.

She was driving a northbound pickup truck that ran off the road and struck a tree, the patrol said.