Missouri couple married 50 years killed in head-on collision

They met. They were married. They spent 50 years together.

On Monday, they died together.

72-year-old Leonard Wayne Byrd and 66-year-old Rebecca Joyce Byrd, both of St. Genevieve in southeast Missouri, died Monday at the scene of a five-vehicle crash on I-55 in Jefferson County,

The crash occurred around 1:30 p.m. when a tractor-trailer rear-ended a vehicle, then plowed through a cable barrier and barreled into incoming traffic, hitting the 2020 Kia Telluride SUV the Byrds were in head-on.

The accident resulted in the closure of I-55 for several hours.