NEW MADRID COUNTY, MO — A 43-year-old Illinois man died early Tuesday after his Freightliner Cascadia left Interstate 55 in New Madrid County and struck a parked vehicle before hitting a tree, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
The crash happened at 2:50 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026, on northbound I-55 at the 34.4-mile marker. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene at 3:18 a.m., the patrol said.
Investigators said the truck traveled north before going off the right side of the road. It then hit a stationary 2008 Pontiac G6 and a tree.
Troopers identify the victim as a Norridge, Illinois, resident
The man who died was from Norridge, Illinois, according to the crash report. The Missouri State Highway Patrol did not immediately release his name in the information provided.
Troopers said he was driving a 2025 Freightliner Cascadia. The patrol also said he was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the wreck.
The information about any occupant of the Pontiac G6 was not included in the crash report. Safety device information for the Pontiac was listed as unknown.
Freightliner strikes a stationary Pontiac before hitting a tree
According to the Highway Patrol, the Freightliner first left the roadway, then collided with the parked Pontiac G6, and finally hit a tree. The sequence left both vehicles totaled.
JSH Towing removed both the Freightliner and the Pontiac from the scene after the crash. The patrol did not provide additional details about why the truck went off the road.
Because the Pontiac was stationary, the crash report does not describe a moving two-vehicle collision. Instead, investigators described the truck leaving the highway and striking the vehicle where it was stopped.
Crash occurred at 2:50 a.m. on northbound Interstate 55
The wreck happened in the dark early-morning hours on northbound Interstate 55 at mile marker 34.4. The patrol’s timeline places the fatal impact at 2:50 a.m., with the driver pronounced dead 28 minutes later.
That stretch of highway in New Madrid County carries heavy through traffic, including long-haul commercial vehicles like the Freightliner involved here. Troopers did not say whether weather, speed, or road conditions played a role.
Sergeant D. L. Dejournett investigated the crash with help from Corporal J. P. Lewis and the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s Major Crash Investigation Unit.
Troop E records its 47th traffic fatality of 2026
The Missouri State Highway Patrol said the crash was Troop E’s 47th traffic fatality of 2026. That count places the wreck within the broader toll of deadly highway crashes handled by the troop this year.
Troopers have not said whether any additional findings from the investigation could change that count or add more context to what caused the crash. For now, the confirmed facts are limited to the truck leaving the roadway, the impact with the Pontiac, and the driver’s death at the scene.
The report identifies the Freightliner driver as the only confirmed fatality in the incident.
What the crash report says about the two vehicles
The 2025 Freightliner Cascadia and the 2008 Pontiac G6 were both declared totaled after the wreck. That detail shows the force of the impact once the truck left the roadway and hit the stopped car and then the tree.
The crash report did not describe damage to the surrounding roadway or other property. It also did not list any additional injuries tied to the scene.
With the investigation handled by highway patrol crash specialists, the case now stands as another fatal commercial-vehicle wreck on a Missouri interstate, with the exact cause still not explained in the available findings.
Local news that matters, from Dulaney Griffin.
