Driver charged in wrong-way crash that killed 3 in Missouri
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Hours after a wrong-way crash on Interstate 29 that killed three people early on Thursday in Platte County, a sheriff's deputy using a drone found the suspect accused of leaving the scene hiding in a bean field.
Deputies and Missouri Highway Patrol troopers subsequently took 34-year-old Kyle Mendez into custody, and prosecutors charged him with three counts of involuntary manslaughter and leaving the scene of an accident.
The crash happened just after midnight on Thursday in the southbound lanes of I-29 south of Dearborn. The highway patrol identified the victims as 52-year-old Michelet Metellus, 54-year-old Sheyla Similien, who were passengers in a Honda Odyssey van, and 55-year-old Joel Similien, who was driving the van.
Court documents say Mendez was driving a Ford Edge SUV, and four other people were hospitalized in the crash. The highway patrol tells FOX4 that Mendez is also hospitalized with serious injuries.
Documents go on to say witnesses called 911 to say they saw a driver cross the median and travel northbound in the southbound lanes of the interstate. Deputies and troopers responding to the scene found medics treating people outside of the van, and the three victims found inside the van were declared deceased at the scene.
Investigators say Mendez left the crash scene, and deputies put up a drone and brought out a K9 to see if they could find him, but were initially unsuccessful after about a four-hour search.
At about 8 a.m., the sheriff's office says another deputy went to the scene and flew a drone along a tree line west of the interstate, and found Mendez using a stick to hold himself up in a bean field.
Investigators detail in court papers that they traced the vehicle he's accused of driving back to an address in Kansas City, Kansas, where the owner told them Mendez had taken it without permission and didn't return it.
He was taken to a hospital and agreed to an interview, admitting to driving the SUV and being involved in the crash according to a probable cause statement.
He said he was driving to St. Joseph, but had a change of plans and turned into the median, saying he thought he detoured to a two-lane road, but had actually begun driving northbound in the southbound lanes. He told investigators he realized right before the crash that he was going the wrong way, and said he checked on the people in the van before running from the scene. He said he ran because he didn't think anyone would believe his story.
Investigators are waiting on his warrants for his blood and DNA among other things. He's being treated for his injuries and will be taken to jail upon release, where a complaint says he'll initially be held without bond. Online records don't list a court date for him yet.