Ruling changed in death of brother of fallen soldier

The Crawford County Medical Examiner has changed his ruling from suicide to accidental death regarding a Schleswig man who was struck by a pickup truck earlier this week. 19-year old Justin Paul Byers died Monday night when he was struck by a pickup truck as he was coming out of a roadside ditch along Highway 30 west of Vail. Doctor Dennis Crabb originally ruled the death to be an intentional act. However, after reviewing additional evidence from the Iowa State Patrol, Crabb changed his ruling yesterday (Friday) to an accidental death. Byers’ death grabbed attention because it happened two days before the funeral of his brother, 22-year old Sergeant Casey Byers, who died June 11th in Iraq. The younger Byers was a member of the U.S. Army Reserve Transportation Company of Sac City that was scheduled to leave for Iraq this fall.