Trooper Ross S. Creach

On Sunday, December 12, 1943, Trooper Ross S. Creach was directing traffic as a trucking company attempted to remove a trailer from the ditch on U.S. Highway 36 in Shelby County. At approximately 8 p.m., a westbound vehicle approached at a high rate of speed. Tpr. Creach began waving his flashlight to signal the driver to slow down, but was struck by the passing car and killed instantly. The driver of the vehicle was described as intoxicated and wanting to fight. The driver stated that he had been drinking on Saturday and Sunday, and could not remember anything from the time he left a tavern in Shelbina, until he was told he had killed Tpr. Creach.

The driver of the vehicle was sentenced to four years in prison.

Trooper Ross S. Creach, 24, was the fifth trooper to be killed in the line of duty.