The Missouri State Highway Patrol detailed the events of a catastrophic wrong-way collision on Interstate 44 that occurred just before 6 p.m., west of Highway 109, yesterday evening. As reported by FOX 2 NOW, a 2013 Ford F-150 driven by 62-year-old Lane Rakow of Eureka was traveling eastbound in the westbound lanes, setting off a series of collisions. An 18-year-old at the helm of a 2017 Hyundai Sonata swerved to avoid a head-on crash with the pickup but collided with the concrete median divider. Rakow then swerved in the same direction, resulting in the F-150 striking the Sonata and continuing on its destructive path.
The F-150 did not stop after hitting the Sonata. According to FOX 2 NOW, it proceeded to collide with a 2018 Peterbilt 579 tractor-trailer in the second lane before hitting a 2019 Lincoln Navigator in the first. The aftermath of these collisions involved the semitruck veering off the road, striking a guardrail and overturning. The devastation closed all lanes of westbound I-44 and one lane eastbound, as confirmed by First Alert 4.
Lane Rakow was pronounced dead at the scene, making this trajectory his last. The driver of semitruck suffered moderate injuries and received treatment at a local hospital, detailed by KSDK News. While the identities and conditions of other involved parties have not been detailed in available reports, the Patrol's report confirms the impact extended beyond the immediate victims, with debris and emergency response vehicles filling the roadway, while investigators pieced together the harrowing tapestry of this tragedy.
All lanes of westbound I-44 and one lane of eastbound were shut down while investigators worked the scene, and they have since been reopened.
