Trooper James Froemsdorf was shot and killed during a traffic stop.

On March 2, 1985 at about 5:14 pm, Trooper Froemsdorf made a traffic stop on I-55 near Brewer. During the stop he placed the driver in handcuffs and in the front seat of his cruiser so he could search the driver's vehicle. He located identification and determined that the suspect was wanted on four warrants out of Texas including robbery and a probation violation.

Trooper Froemsdorf was preparing to take the suspect to the Perry County Jail. The suspect was able to compress his hand, due to an old injury, to the size of his wrist and squeeze out of one of the handcuffs. The suspect then grabbed Trooper Froemsdorf's revolver and shot him several times, once in the bullet resistant vest and twice in the neck. The suspect, Jerome Mallett, was later apprehended on March 5, 1985 near Highway 67 & Route 8 at Desloge after a massive manhunt He was sentenced to death and executed on July 11, 2001.

Trooper Froemsdorf joined the Highway Patrol in 1975 and was the 12th member of the Patrol to lose their life in the line of duty. He was survived by his wife and three daughters. Interred: Cape County Memorial Park Cemetery, Cape Girargeau, MO.