Man dead in roadside stabbing ID'd as Missouri Air National Guard member
LEE'S SUMMIT, Mo. -- Authorities are looking for a suspect in fatal roadside stabbing that may have resulted from an argument between two drivers. Lee's Summit Police say that 23-year-old Cody Harter of St. Joseph, Missouri, died after being stabbed Saturday evening near the junction of Missouri 291 and Interstate 470.
Witnesses told police that Harter had been arguing with another person before his death and a second vehicle had been stopped in front of Harter's truck.
Police believe Harter was stabbed during the confrontation before the other driver fled.
Harter was a member of the Missouri Air National Guard, and family members said he had served in Iraq in the past and helped with hurricane relief last year.
CBS affiliate KCTV of Kansas City, Missouri, reports that Harter had his own lawn care business and was also an aspiring dirtbike racer.
"He did a tour over in Iraq and he was in Qatar," his mother said at a press conference Sunday. "He helped with hurricane relief in Houston and Puerto Rico. He loved everyone. He would help anybody. He only had one semester left until he graduated with an engineering technology degree."
"He was not just a number," she said. "He was a person."
"It was senseless. He's been to war and back and to die because someone was angry," she said. "I can only imagine someone was upset because he wasn't going fast enough. Is that a reason to take his life and leave him there?"
You can watch more of the family's press conference at this link or in the video player below:
Lee's Summit police are asking for anyone who may have been in the area at the time or who saw anything to call the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS or 816-474-8477. You can reach the police department, if necessary, at 816-969-7390, but call the TIPS Hotline first.