Chillicothe woman, UMKC law grad, dies in crash as pickup truck runs red light

A Chillicothe woman died after her SUV was struck by a pickup truck whose driver ran through a red light, the Missouri Highway Patrol reported.

Danette Lynn Rardon, 39, of Chillicothe, a graduate of the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law, was killed in the Saturday evening crash.

Rardon was driving her SUV westbound on Calhoun Street in Chillicothe about 6 p.m. and made a right turn onto northbound Washington Street. A pickup truck traveling north on Washington failed to stop for a red light and entered the intersection, crashing into Rardon’s vehicle.

Rardon’s SUV was knocked off the road into a sign post. The pickup truck went off the road and came to a rest facing east.

The driver of the pickup refused treatment for minor injuries, but the driver had a 5-year-old daughter in the truck who was flown by helicopter to a Kansas City hospital with moderate injuries, the highway patrol reported.

In her obituary with Lindley Funeral Homes, Rardon, a 2003 graduate from UMKC’s law school, was noted for serving on the board of several public service agencies. She was the senior vice president of wealth management for Citizens Bank and Trust.