LAWRENCE COUNTY, Mo. – Two Pierce City, Missouri residents die in a wrong-way crash on I-44.

It happened around 5:23 a.m. Wednesday about half a mile east of Mount Vernon, Missouri. 67-year-old David Galer and his passenger, 45-year-old Joanne Merritt, were heading east in the westbound lane of I-44 when they struck a box truck head-on.

Both Galer and Merritt were pronounced dead at the scene.