The animal was struck by an SUV traveling in the opposite direction before hitting the 40-year-old man’s westbound Jeep.
BOONE COUNTY, Mo. — A 40-year-old Missouri man died after a deer struck by another vehicle was thrown into the path of his Jeep and crashed through its windshield on U.S. 40, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
The unusual fatal crash happened at 5:47 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 5, near Shady Hills in Boone County. The Highway Patrol said a 2024 Chevrolet Equinox driven by a 75-year-old man from Clark was traveling east when it struck a deer in the roadway. The impact propelled the animal into the westbound lane, where a 2004 Jeep Renegade driven by the Glasgow man was approaching from the opposite direction.
According to the patrol’s crash report, the deer struck the Jeep’s windshield and roof before entering the passenger compartment and hitting the driver. The Jeep then traveled off the left side of the highway, struck trees and came to a stop. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene at 6:12 p.m. His name had not been released in the publicly available crash report.
The driver of the Chevrolet was not injured. His vehicle came to a controlled stop on the right shoulder following the collision, the Highway Patrol said. The agency’s report listed both vehicles as totaled and said both drivers were using safety devices at the time of the crash.
The crash occurred on U.S. 40 east of Rocheport Gravel Road. A Highway Patrol listing described the location as U.S. 40 near Shady Hills. Investigators with the agency’s Major Crash Investigation Unit handled the case, according to the official report.
The Highway Patrol recorded the Glasgow driver as the only fatality connected to the crash. The agency’s report listed him as an adult male, age 40, and said his body was taken to the Boone County medical examiner’s office. No other injuries were listed in the report.
The Highway Patrol classified the incident as a fatality crash and said next of kin had been notified. The agency also identified the death as Troop F’s 56th traffic fatality of 2026 and its first recorded traffic fatality of November. That figure covers traffic deaths handled by the troop and is not limited to crashes involving deer.
News organizations across Missouri reported the crash over the weekend after the Highway Patrol released its account. The basic sequence described by those reports matched the official record: an eastbound vehicle struck the deer, the animal was thrown into the westbound lane and it struck the Jeep before the Jeep left the road.
The publicly available crash report does not identify the 40-year-old driver by name or provide additional information about why the deer was in the roadway. No criminal charges or citations were listed in the material reviewed, and authorities have not reported that the 75-year-old driver was injured.
The Highway Patrol’s online record continued to list the Nov. 5 collision as a fatal crash as of Monday. The agency had not released additional information identifying the Glasgow man in the public crash record reviewed for this report.
Author note: Last updated November 9, 2026.