Collision kills 2 area residents
Jul. 22—Two area women died of injuries as a result of a head-on collision at 7:05 a.m. Thursday on Missouri Highway 86, a mile west of Newtonia in Newton County, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
Driver Diania F. Bittner, 36, of Neosho, was pronounced dead at the scene by a Newton County assistant coroner, Jerry Deems.
The other driver, Jane A. Taylor, 66, of Stark City, was taken by air ambulance to Freeman Hospital West in Joplin, where she was pronounced dead at 8:27 a.m.
The state patrol reported that the eastbound Bittner vehicle crossed the centerline and struck the Taylor vehicle head-on.
