Police identify man killed in car crash

The identity of a 21-year-old man who was killed Sunday after driving his pickup truck off the road on Old 63 South was released by Columbia police Monday morning.

The driver was Christopher S. Crum, who died in the crash at 4:10 a.m. Police identified the passenger, who walked away from the accident, as Drew D. Minert, 20. A friend of Minert’s alerted police to the crash from “a nearby location,” Columbia police Officer Alan Hulett said.

Columbia police found Minert in the 2500 block of Old 63 South, Hulett said. According to the Columbia city directory, Jefferson Commons apartment complex is at that address. Minert was then transported by ambulance to University Hospital.

On Monday afternoon, hospital officials said he had been discharged, although they would not say when. No information was available about Minert’s injuries.

Based on evidence at the scene and statements from witnesses, Hulett said that alcohol and excessive speed in a 40 mph zone contributed to the crash, which occurred when Crum lost control of the truck, went off the road and struck a metal barrier and some trees. Crum, who was not wearing a seat belt, was thrown from the vehicle. Minert also was not wearing a seat belt.

Hulett said autopsy results would not be available for several weeks.

Crum, from Kennett, was a first-semester student at MU who transferred from a community college and planned to graduate in 2007 as a business major. Minert, from Pender, Neb., is also an MU student.

A longtime friend of Crum’s, Jim Holmes, who also attends MU, said he learned Monday morning about his childhood friend’s death from his mother.

He said he and Crum were so close growing up as next door neighbors in Kennett that they used to pretend they were brothers. Crum and Holmes lost touch after eighth grade, but reconnected on the MU campus earlier this semester.

“Chris sent his girlfriend over to check my name tag when I was working at the bookstore to see if it was really me,” Holmes said. “The last time I saw him, we waved at each other walking across campus.”

Holmes said he plans to attend Crum’s funeral later this week. Crum’s mother called Holmes on Monday morning to “find out if I was all right.”

“She told me to be careful coming home,” Holmes said.