- Woman hit on U.S. 60

Struck was Seymour’s Amber L. (Stafford) Davis, whose body was found in the passing lane of the four-lane highway by patrolmen Judd Taylor and McCoy Watson of the Seymour Police Department.

Taylor said the 41-year-old Davis was seriously injured when he and Watson arrived at the accident scene.

“I’m surprised she’s alive, to be honest,” Taylor said.

“The first thing I noticed was the severe injury to her right arm, which was mauled. She couldn’t move it.

“Her femur also was shattered on her right leg. It was bleeding badly, and she had a 6-inch gash at her knee.”

Despite her severe injuries, Taylor said Davis was fully conscious.

“(Davis) knew the date, she knew she’d been hit, but her condition quickly went downhill as we waited for EMS to arrive,” he said.

At the accident scene, Taylor said a tourniquet was placed on Davis’ right leg to stop the bleeding. He also speculated that she was suffering from internal bleeding.

“The motorist who hit her really hit her hard,” he noted.

“This wasn’t a glancing blow. It was direct.”

Seymour’s two officers on duty were dispatched to the accident scene just after 8 p.m. Sunday as a call first went out for a female walking in front of westbound traffic on U.S. 60 near Killdeer Road.

A few minutes later, a second call came from dispatch, as a motorist reported that a woman was laying in the westbound lane of the highway.

Trooper Austin James of the Missouri State Highway Patrol said in his radio report that he received a call at 8:15 p.m.

His report said, “A pedestrian was walking on or near the road and was struck by an unknown vehicle.”

Davis was taken by ambulance to Cox Medical Center South in Springfield.

James reported her injuries as serious.

Taylor said that at the accident scene, Davis didn’t know what type of a vehicle struck her.

“She had no idea,” he said. “Right now, we have nothing to go on in terms of who hit (Davis). But there’s absolutely no doubt that the motorist who hit her knew that they hit her. The vehicle should have notable damage.”

He said the state patrol has taken over the investigation, since the accident occurred outside Seymour’s city limits.

However, anyone with any information about the accident can contact the Seymour Police Department and speak with any officer about the hit-and-run accident, which Taylor said will be a felony crime.

The department’s office is located on the southwest corner of the Seymour square. The phone number is 417-935-4012.