On the afternoon of February 8, 1987, Missouri State Highway Patrol Trooper Russell Wynn Harper, 45, was killed while on patrol on U.S. Highway 60 just east of Springfield, Greene County. Trooper Harper had stopped a red-and-white mid-1960s Chevrolet pickup for speeding. After the truck pulled onto a farm road and stopped, the driver, identified as Glennon Paul Sweet, exited with an HK93 semi-automatic assault rifle and fired more than 25 rounds into the patrol car. A bullet struck Trooper Harper in the head, killing him instantly; his patrol car later rolled into a nearby ditch when left unattended.

A multi-agency manhunt followed. Sweet fled in the pickup, drove to an acquaintance’s home where the truck was altered, and was later found hiding in an attic west of Springfield when officers served a search warrant. Ballistics and witness testimony were used at trial; Sweet was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death. Trooper Harper was survived by his wife, three sons, and a stepdaughter.

Did anyone in the area in February 1987 see the pickup or have information about that stop?