Interstate 44 tragedy repeats itself in Missouri

updated 7:39 p.m. ET Oct. 17, 2006

MARSHFIELD, Mo. - A state highway employee was struck and killed by a tractor-trailer Tuesday while putting up a memorial to a state trooper who died on the same stretch of Interstate 44.

William L. Crain, 35, was erecting a sign naming part of the highway after Highway Patrol Trooper Jay Sampietro, who was struck and killed last year.

Crain, who was a seasonal crew member for the Missouri Department of Transportation, was working from a service road that runs parallel to I-44 near the unincorporated town of Northview in Webster County.

He apparently did not see the westbound truck and stepped onto the road in front of the 18-wheeler, said Lt. Terry Moore.

The lanes of the interstate were marked as a work zone, but the service road was not, Moore said.

The investigation was ongoing and a decision on any potential charges would be up to the county prosecutor.

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