Two longtime Custer City residents were killed Thursday afternoon in a two-vehicle collision on a rural stretch of U.S. Highway 183, about three miles north of Arapaho. The crash occurred at the intersection of U.S. 183 and East 960 Road at approximately 4:55 p.m. on June 25. Authorities identified the victims as 75-year-old Rodney Ray Neufeld and 73-year-old Kathy Neufeld. The driver of the second vehicle, a 37-year-old man, was injured and taken to a nearby hospital.
Crash details and victims
According to reporting by KECO 96.5FM, troopers said the Neufelds were occupants in one of the vehicles and that the driver of the other vehicle was 37-year-old Cody W. Stevens of Kingston. KECO reports that troopers said all occupants were wearing seat belts and that no additional passengers were involved. The outlet notes the Oklahoma Highway Patrol has said the cause of the collision remains under investigation and that next of kin have been notified.
Seat belts and rural-road risks
Rural highways such as U.S. 183 account for a disproportionate share of Oklahoma traffic deaths, and safety officials regularly point to seat-belt use as a key factor in whether people walk away from a wreck. Observational surveys from the Oklahoma Highway Safety Office put statewide seat-belt use in the mid-80s, about 86.4% in 2024 and roughly Oklahoma Highway Safety Office 85.3% in 2025, with lower compliance among pickup occupants and on local roads. Those patterns, the office says, help explain why crashes on rural stretches can become fatal even when overall use rates appear relatively high.
Investigation ongoing
The Oklahoma Highway Patrol is leading the probe and has released few public details while troopers work to reconstruct the scene. Officials have not said whether any citations or charges will follow. Anyone with information about the collision is asked to contact the Oklahoma Highway Patrol through its website.
