6-mile stretch of I-29 named for Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper Fred Guthrie Jr.

More than a year after being killed in the line of duty, Missouri Highway Patrol trooper Fred Guthrie Jr
had a highway named after him Friday morning.

Guthrie and his K-9 partner Reed were killed on August 1, 2011, after they were swept away by fast moving flood water near Big Lake in Holt County Missouri.

Reed's body was found the next day, but the search for Guthrie continued. After two months passed with no sign of the fallen officer, the husband and father was pronounced dead.

In January, Guthrie's body was found just 250 yards from where his truck was parked.

Fellow trooper Sheldon Lyon says losing Guthrie wasn't easy.

"When somebody's working with a coworker who's there friend and they work with them everyday and you see that person, you get to know a lot about their family because you work years with that person," Lyon said. "Then all of a sudden for them to be lost tragically is something that doesn't go away quickly."

A six mile stretch of I-29 from Highway 270 to Missouri Route E was designated as the Trooper Fred F. Guthrie Jr. Memorial Highway.