Rockford man killed in Mo. crash

STEELE, Mo. -- An Illinois man and three people from Tennessee have died in a head-on crash in southeast Missouri.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol says the crash happened around 5:40 a.m. Sunday when a northbound Cadillac Escalade went off the left side of Interstate 55. It crossed the median and crashed head-on into another sport utility vehicle, a GMC Yukon.

The patrol says the driver of the Escalade, 57-year-old Leon Cash, of Rockford, Ill., was killed. His 56-year-old passenger, Maxine Cash, was flown to a Memphis hospital with serious injuries.

Three people in the Yukon also died -- 60-year-old Howard M. Gilliland, 27-year-old Vontina A. Gilliland and 52-year-old Felecia R. Reeves-Gilliland, all from Memphis, Tenn.

Two boys in the Yukon, ages 5 and 7, were taken to a children's hospital in Memphis with moderate injuries.