POWESHIEK COUNTY — A 47-year-old Oklahoma man was killed early Friday morning after authorities say he walked onto Interstate 80 in rural Iowa and was struck by a semi.
The fatal crash happened at approximately 1:37 a.m. on July 10, 2026, along eastbound Interstate 80 near mile marker 198 in Poweshiek County.
According to the Iowa State Patrol, a 2019 Freightliner Cascadia was traveling east on I-80 when a male pedestrian walked onto the roadway and was struck.
The pedestrian was identified as Jeremiah M. Leifheit, 47, of Edmond, Oklahoma.
Leifheit suffered fatal injuries and was transported to the Iowa State Medical Examiner’s Office.
The semi was driven by Jama Jama, 33, of Fridley, Minnesota. The truck was operated by Macow Transport LLC of Burnsville, Minnesota.
The preliminary Iowa State Patrol report does not indicate that the truck driver was injured and does not list any charges stemming from the collision.
The crash occurred on a rural stretch of Interstate 80, one of Iowa’s busiest east-west transportation corridors. Authorities did not immediately provide additional information explaining why Leifheit was on the interstate or what circumstances led him to enter the traveled portion of the roadway.
The Iowa State Patrol investigated the fatal collision with assistance from the Poweshiek County Sheriff’s Office, Brooklyn Fire Department, Iowa Department of Transportation and Poweshiek County Emergency Medical Services.
The investigation remained preliminary in the initial crash report.
As of July 17, 2026, 156 people had been killed in traffic crashes on Iowa roads this year, according to the Iowa Department of Transportation. The DOT notes that recent fatality figures are preliminary and can change as investigations are completed and deaths are officially classified as crash-related.