Wasola man injured in fatal crash near Ava

An Ozark County man and two other people were injured and one person was killed in a Douglas County car crash Friday morning.
According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol online report, the accident occurred at 6:35 a.m. Jan. 6 on Highway 5, five miles north of Ava. According to the report, the incident happened when Nancy L. Davolt, 51, of Mountain Grove, lost control of the 1994 Toyota Camry she was driving, traveled across the center line and was struck in the passenger side by a 2008 Cadillac CTS driven by 45-year-old Michael P. Gardner of Wasola.
The passenger in Davolt’s car, 59-year-old Deborah A. Emerson of Seymour, was pronounced dead at the scene by Douglas County Corner Rick Miller.
Davolt was seriously injured and was flown to Cox South Hospital in Springfield. Gardner and his passenger, Heather W. Craig, 42, of Springfield, suffered minor injuries and were transported to Cox South by ambulance.
The Camry was totaled, and Gardner’s Cadillac was extensively damaged.
MSHP was assisted by the Ava Rural Fire Department in responding to the crash, in which Missouri’s first road fatality of 2017 occurred, the MSHP said.

Injuries