HONEY CREEK — Two out-of-state travelers were killed Wednesday morning after a semi left an Iowa interstate, tore through cable barriers and slammed into a bridge support column.
The fatal crash happened at approximately 6:24 a.m. on July 29, 2026, along northbound Interstate 29 near mile marker 66 in Pottawattamie County.
The Iowa State Patrol said a 2024 Kenworth tractor-trailer driven by 64-year-old Charles Leroy Grandpre of Salina, Kansas, was traveling north when it left the roadway for an unknown reason.
The semi continued through cable barriers and entered the median before striking a support column beneath the Rosewood Road bridge just south of the Honey Creek exit.
Grandpre and his passenger, 49-year-old Angela Dawn Blackwood of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, were both killed in the violent collision.
The State Patrol report indicates neither occupant was wearing a seat belt when the crash occurred.
The truck was operated by Grandpre Express of Salina, Kansas, and was removed from the scene by Arrows Towing.
The crash caused substantial traffic disruptions while emergency crews and investigators worked at the scene. Southbound motorists were temporarily routed off the interstate before being allowed to reenter beyond the crash site.
The cause of the semi leaving the roadway remains under investigation.
The Iowa Department of Transportation and Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office assisted the Iowa State Patrol at the scene.
According to preliminary Iowa Department of Transportation figures, 167 people had died in traffic crashes across Iowa in 2026 as of July 31.