Former county attorney, woman killed in wreck

A former Bourbon County attorney and a Nevada, Mo., woman were killed in a two-vehicle crash Monday morning on U.S. Highway 54 in Vernon County.

According to a Missouri State Highway Patrol crash report, the wreck involved a 1991 Toyota Celica driven by Ashley Schnedler, 36, of Nevada, and a 1993 Lincoln Town Car driven by 74-year-old John Swarts of Fort Scott. The accident took place 11 miles west of Nevada.

The MSHP report said the vehicle Schnedler was driving east on U.S. 54 struck Swarts' vehicle head-on. Both subjects were pronounced dead at the scene by Vernon County Chief Deputy Coroner Thomas Heiber at 10:15 a.m. Monday.

The MSHP report said at the time of the crash, Schnedler was not wearing a seat belt. Swarts was wearing a safety restraint.

Both vehicles were listed as totaled and towed from the scene, the MSHP report said.

Swarts' obituary can be seen in today's edition of the Tribune.

He served as Bourbon County attorney from 1994 until 2002, according to the Bourbon County website.