Two people were killed and one suffered serious injuries after their Ford Explorer left the road in the 2900 block of Gene Field Road shortly before 3am today. Police say the vehicle careened into a wooded ravine and hit a tree at a high rate of speed.

Police say they cannot confirm it at this time, but they believe the vehicle was the same one that fled an attempted car stop a short time earlier on the Belt Highway.

A police supervisor reported attempting to stop a dark-colored SUV for speeding northbound on the Belt south of Beck Road at around 2:34 this morning. He was unable to catch up to the vehicle to obtain a license number or other vehicle descriptions. He reported that the vehicle turned onto Gene Field from the Belt, and was last seen traveling at very high rate of speed westbound, causing him to notify dispatch that he was shutting down his efforts to catch up to the vehicle.

Captain Kevin Castle of the St Joseph Police Department says someone called 911 after hearing cries for help. The caller could not tell where the cries were coming from.

Michael J. Hadden, 24,  was severely injured and trapped in the wreckage. After a St Joseph Fire Department rescue team extricated him, Hadden was taken to Heartland Regional Medical Center for treatment.

Two others within the vehicle, Robert O. DeGrote, 34, and the driver, William L. Williams, 33, died in the crash.

Castle says the vehicle was not visible from the road, but says tracks left by the vehicle indicate it was traveling west bound on Gene Field at an extremely high speed.

The site of the impact was littered with debris after sunup Monday, as a tow-truck crew returned to remove the large pieces of debris left behind after the SUV was removed.