Man from Salem Dead Following Motorcycle Crash on I-44

One man is dead after his motorcycle crashed along I-44 and he was thrown from the vehicle.

54-year-old Thomas Zielinski was riding west on I-44 near mile marker 170 east of Waynesville when the motorcycle went off the left side of the road and flipped.

He was ejected off the motorcycle, and then transported to the Phelps Health Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

After it flipped, the motorcycle hit a car going eastbound on I-44. The driver of that vehicle was not injured.

Zielinski’s death was the 12th for Missouri State Highway Patrol Troop I in 2024