Reports indicate six traffic fatalities, zero boating fatalities, two drownings over Memorial Day weekend

Six people died in traffic crashes over the 2020 Memorial Day weekend counting period of 6 p.m., Friday, May 22, through 11:59 p.m., Monday, May 25, 2020.
During the 2019 counting period, the patrol investigated 296 traffic crashes, which included 127 injuries and seven of the eight fatalities. Troopers made 96 arrests for driving while intoxicated last year. Also, over the 2019 Memorial Day holiday: Marine operations troopers investigated seven boating crashes involving three injuries and two fatalities; and arrested 10 people for boating while intoxicated on the state’s rivers and lakes. No one drowned over the 2019 Memorial Day holiday.
- One person drowned on Friday, May 22, 2020. Frankie O. Mills, 50, of Rockaway Beach, drowned after he fell from a boat dock into the water. The drowning occurred in Taney County in Lake Taneycomo. Mills was not wearing a life jacket when the incident occurred.
- One person drowned on Saturday, May 23, 2020. Fredgrikas M. Hardiman, 34, of Fayetteville, Ark., exited a boat, was swept downstream by a swift current and went under a log jam. The drowning occurred in McDonald County on the Elk River one mile north of Noel.
Troopers investigated five of the six traffic crash fatalities. Two fatalities occurred in the Troop C, Weldon Spring area. One fatality occurred in each of the following areas: Troop A, Lee’s Summit, Troop E, Poplar Bluff, and Troop F, Jefferson City.