ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — Private contractors removed half of the Bayless Ave bridge before a woman drove off it into Gravois Creek and died during Tuesday's flooding, St. Louis County officials confirmed with 5 On Your Side.
The bridge in the Interstate 55 and Bayless Avenue area runs over Gravois Creek and was under construction when floodwaters rose, according to the St. Louis County Department of Transportation & Public Works. The construction project had been ongoing since September, and the county hired a private contractor to do the work on its behalf.
Temporary barriers were put up, but several residents said they floated away in the flood.
There were no guardrails around the bridge blocking people from driving into the water when 5 On Your Side crews were at the scene on Tuesday.
"They don't have any barriers up. They should've had more concrete barriers around there, especially since they already had taken part of the bridge down," said neighbor Barbara Gross.
The victim was identified as 63-year-old Nancy Parisotto of Affton. Police believe Parisotto drove her car into the water earlier in the morning during the height of the flash flood.
Barbara Gross lives near Bayless Avenue and had safety concerns about the project before the flooding. She said she won't drive on the bridge after Parisotto's death.
"I wasn't scared to drive on it before, but now, with the flood and everything, I'm afraid it's deteriorated even more. So, no, I wouldn't drive on it now," Gross said.
Gross heard from Parisotto's relative about where she was headed before ending up in the creek.
"She was on her way to vote, and it was about six o'clock in the morning. A concrete barrier would've helped, prevented her from going down," said Gross.
Then, a few hours later, Kenneth Ludwig, a 41-year-old man from Hillsboro, Missouri, was found dead in the same creek in the 1600 block of Avenue H.
"It's devastating. It's terrible. I feel sorry for the families," Gross said.
Both deaths are being investigated as drownings.
"This loss has devastated their family," said the organizer of a GoFundMe for Ludwig's widow. The organizer said Ludwig also leaves behind four children.
On social media, there are heartfelt condolences from those who knew the victims.
"He was a good friend of mine at school. I just seen him at Schnucks. He will be missed," someone posted on Facebook.
Another person wrote, "I worked with Nancy and she was a good friend... sweetest lady you'd ever meet. She always watched my dogs when we were out of town. She loved animals so much... I'm so sorry this happened to you."
Multiple people in the area on Wednesday said they felt Parisotto's death could have been prevented if cement barriers had been erected at the recently removed portion of the bridge, including the man who reportedly witnessed Parisotto drive off the bridge into the creek to her death.
Once the flood waters started to recede on Tuesday, Billy Aburadih, the manager at a nearby BP gas station, said he noticed the car go into the creek at around noon and called 911 right after. He was heartbroken to learn Parisotto had died but said there were no signs or retaining walls blocking the hole in the creek that construction workers had left behind.
Gravois Creek flooded not only the roads but also homes nearby, forcing several people to move.
"I did not expect to wake up, and it be my last day in this house for God knows how long, if at all," said a nearby resident, Patrick O'Connor.
Neighbor Omar Perez said O'Connor knocked on his door early that morning. "My car was almost underwater and (he) told us we would have to evacuate."
Both Perez and O'Connor have extreme flood damage in their homes. Perez and his family were left packing up what they could salvage and moved into a new apartment after the creek flooded their entire house, making it a total loss.
"Everything is damaged. The couches, I mean everything. The water was about an inch inside the home. We can't stay in there with the water damage and the smell. It's all brown water. It's all mud inside," Perez said.
As Gross suggested, Perez also wants to see more work done to block off the construction, including adding a concrete barrier.
"I would hope they would make it safer for people in these situations. If you were driving through there, you wouldn't even know that that was missing. It raises concerns because we don't know what's going on there, and people are now dead there. It's crazy, it's really crazy," Perez said.
St. Louis County Public Information Manager David Wrone wouldn't say whether it was believed the bridge removal played a role in Parisotto's death and declined an on-camera interview with 5 On Your Side. Police said it will take about six to eight weeks before they have an official cause of both victims' deaths after forensic testing concludes.
Construction on the bridge started in September and is expected to be completed by 2025, but workers didn't report to the site on Wednesday, and no estimated time for work to resume was given.