MSHP: distracted driving may have contributed to deadly I-70 crash

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Missouri State Highway Patrol said the cause of a deadly crash on Interstate 70 in July was due to distracted driving.

The crash occurred on July 9 at 9:24 a.m. at the 117.6 mile marker on I-70 in Boone County between a passenger car and a semi-truck.

According to a Missouri State Highway Patrol written crash report, a passenger in the crash said the driver, who was identified as Joshua Hulse, 22, of Columbia, may have been looking down at the time of the crash.

The report states Hulse was traveling eastbound in a 2014 Chevrolet Impala behind a 2024 Freightliner Cascadia semi-truck driven by Derson Jeanlouis, 36, of Brandon, Florida.

Investigators said Jeanlouis was slowing down due to traffic from a separate crash. Hulse reportedly did not slow down and hit the back of the semi-truck.

Troopers said several witnesses told them Hulse tried to use his brakes but still hit the truck before going off the right side of the road and hit a guardrail before returning to the road and hitting the trailer again causing the car to go underneath part of it.

The crash report states the entire car was damaged.

Hulse was pronounced dead at the scene. The two passengers, Johnathan Wolfe, 21, of Sturgeon, and Austin Pitford, 23, of Ozark were on the right side of the car.

Wolfe and Pitford were taken to University Hospital for possible injuries.

The driver of the truck was not hurt. Investigators said there was damage to the trailer unit but no cargo was released.

The only probable contributing circumstances according to troopers were Hulse driving too fast for the conditions and being distracted while driving.

The report states the road was wet due to recent rain when investigators were on the scene.

According to the report, everyone involved in the crash was wearing seat belts at the time of the collision.

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