Body found near bridge construction site

The Carter County Sheriff’s Department responded to a report at 6:47 a.m. Thursday of a vehicle and a body on Highway B at the bridge over Tenmile Creek.

Gary Sullivan, Carter County dispatch supervisor, relayed the 911 call initially got routed through Butler County.

After being transferred to a Ripley County dispatcher, who also happened to be a dispatcher for Carter, Sheriff Dustin Boyer responded to the scene.

According to Sullivan, Boyer called in the Missouri State Highway Patrol upon examining the scene.

Carter County Coroner Joe Chapman explained the Highway B bridge has been closed for construction. Chapman stated the individual appeared to have parked his car by an excavator, exited the vehicle, passed the closed road signs, and fallen into the creek below at the end of the bridge.

The Missouri Division of Drug and Crime Control has taken over the investigation, according to the Carter County Sheriff’s Office.

“He wasn’t a local,” Sullivan affirmed.

A name will be released pending the notification of the individual’s next of kin, who resides in St. Louis.