George Walter Schmidt, 64, of Dupo, Ill., has been charged with felony leaving the scene of a fatal car crash last fall in Byrnes Mill, court documents show.
The Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office requested his bond be set at $10,000. He entered a plea of not guilty on May 18.
According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, a pedestrian identified as Alyssa Kalbach, 30, of High Ridge was struck by a westbound vehicle on the morning of Nov. 16, 2025, on westbound Hwy. 30, west of Byrnes Mill Road. Kalbach was pronounced dead at the scene at 7:11 a.m.
According to the probable-cause statement, Highway Patrol investigators identified a fender well one mile west of the crash site that belonged to a make and potential model of the vehicle involved and shared their findings on social media. That same day, a tip led investigators to identify the vehicle as a 2013 Chevrolet Avalanche with Illinois registration belonging to Schmidt.
According to court records, the Dupo Police Department contacted the Highway Patrol informing them that Schmidt had walked to the department to “turn himself in” the following day and could not drive to Missouri to surrender himself because he was intoxicated.
During his interview with the Highway Patrol, Schmidt admitted to traveling on Hwy. 30 the morning of the crash.
Court documents show that Schmidt told investigators, “I looked down, I looked up. There’s this black mass in the highway. I swerved, I crash. What else can be in the highway at 5:30 in the morning but a deer. I assumed it was a deer. I pulled over and made sure I was ok. I drove on to work.”
Schmidt said he did not get out of the vehicle to see what he hit. He said he contacted his insurance company to report the crash and contacted police after seeing a news story about the accident.
He allegedly told troopers he routinely consumes alcohol and marijuana and had six shooters the night before.