Dennis A. Sharkey Jr. was driving his white Chevrolet Spark south on Interstate 29 near Kansas City, Missouri, on the evening of January 10, 2025, about 7 p.m., one day after his 50th birthday. Police responded to a report of a car that had veered off the road and found Sharkey’s vehicle at the bottom of an embankment. He was discovered unresponsive with a gunshot wound, taken to a nearby hospital, and pronounced dead.

Sharkey worked as a sportswriter for the Platte County Citizen and was well known in the local high school sports community; friends and family remembered him as kind, funny, and an avid Kansas City Chiefs fan. Investigators initially considered that the shooting could have resulted from a road rage incident, though the exact motive remained unclear. The case was transferred from the Kansas City Police Department to the Platte County Sheriff’s Office because the shooting occurred outside city limits.

No public resolution had been announced by this date. If anyone saw a dark-colored vehicle or other activity on I-29 that night, contact the Platte County Sheriff’s Office with information.