Former Pulaski County Coroner Succumbs To Injuries Received In Sunday Evening Motorcycle Accident

That Sunday evening motorcycle accident just north of Waynesville has now been listed as a fatal accident by the Missouri Highway Patrol.
The patrol says 54-year-old Mikel E. Hartness of Waynesville was operating his 2008 Harley Davidson on Reporter Road, one half mile north of Waynesville, at 6:20 Sunday evening, when the bike traveled off the roadway, struck a fence and a tree, and ejected Hartness. He was flown by Mercy Lifeline to Mercy Hospital in Springfield, where he died 7 minutes past midnight Monday while under treatment for serious injuries inflicted in the accident.
This was Troop I of the patrol’s 3rd fatality of the month of March and 9th fatality of the year.
Hartness was a former Pulaski County Coroner and worked many years at the county ambulance district office, including serving a long stretch as the Pulaski County Ambulance District’s chief administrator.