POLICE NOW SAY REPORT OF DRUGS IN FATAL CRASH WAS INCORRECT

MARSHALL, Mo. -- A truck driver charged with five counts of involuntary
manslaughter in a crash involving a group of people returning from the
World's Championship Horse Show in Louisville did not have drugs in his
system after all, the Missouri State Highway Patrol said yesterday.

A drug technician's report from Fitzgibbon Hospital in Marshall incorrectly
indicated traces of amphetamines, marijuana and barbiturates in the body of
John Kendrix, 44, the patrol said.

''If you consider how many cases our particular lab handles in a day's time
and a year's time, you'll realize there's a definite backlog,'' said Lt.
Tim Hull of the highway patrol headquarters in Jefferson City. ''In this
case, the lab analysis was done quickly compared to other cases.''

Kendrix's truck crossed the Interstate 70 median about 65 miles east of
Kansas City on Sunday and hit a pickup, killing Debra Sprouse, 45, of Lee's
Summit, and her two children, Ashley Sprouse, 14, and Zachary Corn, 8; and
also Ashley Curl, 15, of Overland Park, Kan.; and Scott Schrier, 45, of
Lee's Summit.

Their pickup was pulling a horse trailer, and the horse also died in the
fiery crash.

Kendrix, of Moultrie, Ga., remained in the Saline County jail yesterday on
$350,000 bail.

Saline County prosecutors said they planned to downgrade the charges today
to five counts of second-degree involuntary manslaughter, which are Class D
felonies. The initial charges were more severe Class C felonies.

Attempts to contact the chief executive of Fitzgibbon Hospital were
unsuccessful yesterday.