Poplar Bluff man killed in head-on collision

QULIN, Mo. -- A Poplar Bluff man was killed in a head-on collision Friday in Butler County.

According to Missouri State Highway Patrol, the crash occurred at 7:40 a.m. on Missouri Highway 53, half a mile south of Qulin, as the southbound vehicle driven by 19-year-old Dillon T. Keith of Poplar Bluff crossed the center line and struck a northbound vehicle head-on.

Keith was pronounced dead at the scene at 7:58 a.m. by Butler County coroner Brian Fugate and taken to Cotrell Funeral Home in Poplar Bluff.

The driver of the northbound vehicle, Joseph B. Hawkins, 38, of Portageville, received serious injuries and was flown to a St. Louis hospital.

Keith's death marked the third fatality in the Patrol's Troop E since Jan. 1.

For this story and more, see the Sunday edition of the Standard Democrat.