May 3, 2017

A 69-year-old Harviell, Mo., woman has been identified as the second person to drown this week while driving on flooded roads in Butler County. According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, at about 4:30 p.m. Sunday, Barbara L. Smithson was operating a 2004 Pontiac Sunfire when she drove into a water-flooded road on Highway 158, one mile east of Harviell...

A 69-year-old Harviell, Mo., woman has been identified as the second person to drown this week while driving on flooded roads in Butler County.

According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, at about 4:30 p.m. Sunday, Barbara L. Smithson was operating a 2004 Pontiac Sunfire when she drove into a water-flooded road on Highway 158, one mile east of Harviell.

Smithson's car was located at about 7:15 a.m. Tuesday in a ditch after the water had receded.

Smithson was pronounced dead at 8:35 a.m. at the scene by Butler County Coroner Andy Moore.

At about 9:30 p.m. Monday, the highway patrol reports Kevin C. Compton, 60, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., was operating a southbound vehicle on Highway 53, two miles south of Poplar Bluff, when he drove into a water-flooded drove.

Compton's vehicle was swept off into a ditch, where it remains until the water recedes.

Compton was pronounced dead by Moore.

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