Police believe Cody M. Harter was stabbed as part of a road rage incident 
 
 An incident that left a man dead along a Missouri highway Saturday night has been ruled a homicide. 
 
 Officers with the Lee's Summit Police Department were called to the northbound lanes of MO-291 near the I-470 merger after witnesses saw a man stumbling in traffic. 
 
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 That man was found dead in the inner median of the highway. 
 
 Police have identified the victim as 24-year-old Cody Harter of St. Joseph, Missouri. 
 
 Harter was a member of the Missouri Air National Guard and had spent time deployed overseas. 
 
 Authorities ruled his cause of death as a stab wound to the chest. Detectives have spoken to a handful of witnesses who reported seeing a possible road rage incident around that time. 
 
 Witnesses told police they saw another vehicle stopped in front of Harter's truck, and that Harter and another person were arguing outside of that vehicle before the stabbing. 
 
 After the incident, the suspect jumped back in their vehicle and fled north on I-470. 
 
 Police are asking anyone who may have been traveling along the highway Saturday night, or who may have seen the victim's vehicle which was also discovered at the scene, to please call detectives at 816-969-1705. 

 Holding hands and breaking down in tears, a grieving family pleaded for help Sunday in finding the man who stabbed and killed Cody M. Harter, a Missouri Air National Guard member, during an act of road rage this past weekend in Lee's Summit. 
 
 "It was senseless," said Harter's mother, Kerrie Harter. "He's been to war and back. And to die because someone was angry." 
 
 Cody Harter, 23, of St. Joseph was fatally stabbed about 7:30 p.m. Saturday along northbound Missouri 291 at the merger of Interstate 470 in Lee's Summit. 
 
 His family, along with his girlfriend and a friend, gathered at the Lee's Summit police headquarters Sunday afternoon to ask for help finding his killer. Police are investigating his death as a homicide but had no description of a suspect on Sunday. 
 
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 Kerrie Harter said her son always drove 65 mph because he was frugal with his gas money. 
 
 "I can only imagine that someone was upset because he wasn't going fast enough," she said. "Is that a reason to take his life?" 
 
 Harter was a loadmaster with the Missouri Air National Guard. He did a tour in Iraq and was in Qatar, his mother said. He also helped with the hurricane relief in Houston and Puerto Rico. 
 
 "He loved everyone," she said. "He would help anybody." 
 
 He was one semester away from receiving a degree in technical engineering from Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph. 
 
 He ran his own lawn care business and was a novice dirt bike racer. 
 
 "He'd spend his weekends at the track, and he'd have so much fun," his mother said. "He even broke his finger in half one time, but he still got back on his bike." 
 
 Harter liked mowing because he could do it when he wanted and keep his weekends free for the track. Harter was in the Lee's Summit area replacing a mower that had blown up on Friday. 
 
 "He called me at 7:18 and we had a six-minute conversation," said his girlfriend, Shelby Berkemeier. "Shortly thereafter is when they reported him stabbed." 
 
 The family was grateful for the motorists who stopped and tried to help him and made sure he was not alone. 
 
 "My son did not die alone, even though whoever did this you left him out there to die alone," said Kerri Harter. 
 
 Berkemeier also thanked those who were around him praying for him. 
 
 "That means the world to me," she said. "Thank you for reaching out. It just makes my heart warm in a dark place right now." 
 
 SHARE COPY LINK Lee's Summit police Sgt. Chris Depue calls for witnesses to come forward about the fatal stabbing Saturday of Cody Harter, 23, by the highway near Missouri 291 and Interstate 470. 
 
 Police are still trying to piece together what happened on Saturday evening. 
 
 Drivers alerted police to the area after seeing Harter stumbling into traffic. When officers arrived, they found Harter collapsed on the road with a stab wound to the chest. He was pronounced dead at the scene. 
 
 A preliminary investigation indicates that Harter had gotten into some type of confrontation with another man while in traffic on northbound Missouri 291 south of the merger with I-470, according to Sgt. Chris Depue, a spokesman for the Lee's Summit Police Department. 
 
 Witnesses told police they saw two vehicles on the shoulder and two men arguing, Depue said. 
 
 At one point, the men went onto the shoulder behind the vehicles, and that's when police believe Harter was stabbed. Harter then stumbled to the front of the vehicle and collapsed into traffic, Depue said. 
 
 The man Harter argued with fled north on I-470. 
 
 Police released a photo of Harter's truck, a maroon 2003 Chevrolet Z71 Silverado extended-cab pickup, in the hope that people would recognize it and call with information, having remembered what they saw. Harter was hauling a large commercial mower in the bed of his truck, which was found on the shoulder of the highway. 
 
 Cody M. Harter, 23, of St. Joseph died after he was stabbed in what police think was a road rage incident Saturday, May 5, 2018, on a highway in Lee's Summit. Police released a photo of his truck in hopes that witnesses who were in the area of Missouri 291 and Interstate 470 about 7:30 p.m. Saturday might recognize it and call in with information Lee's Summit Police Department 
 
 "Hundreds of cars would have passed by and saw this or maybe this disturbance take place on 291 Highway or possibly saw the actual incident along 470," Depue said. "What we're asking people to do is come forward and help this wonderful family get closure and help us bring them justice in this case." 
 
 There was no indication of any damage to Harter's truck nor that Harter had a weapon. Police think it was a fistfight that turned deadly. 
 
 "We think it's truly just one of those stupid incidents of road rage where someone lost their temper and did something really stupid," Depue said. 
 
 Police are trying to put together a description of the man's vehicle, but they need more witnesses to come forward. 
 
 "I think what we are going to see is that all of our witnesses saw one little piece," Depue said. "When we can assemble those 100 pieces to this puzzle, it's going to become very clear. There's so many good cameras along that highway, there's so many people who would have been driving by, there's no reason we couldn't solve this case quickly. " 
 
 Anyone who might have seen the incident, or saw Harter or his assailant traveling in the area, is asked to call Lee's Summit police at the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-8477. 
 
 Harter's family also urged people to call in with information. 
 
 "If you saw anything, even if you think it was nothing, please call," she pleaded. "Please call. They'll put the pieces together. Let's find who did this senseless act so that you're not sitting here when it's your child. Please call. Please." 
 
 Harter's sister, Kylee Harter, urged her brother's killer to turn himself in. 
 
 "He did not deserve this," she said. "And we don't deserve the pain that came with it." 

 A U.S. Air Force veteran was stabbed to death after a road rage incident -- and now cops are looking for the driver who allegedly killed him, Missouri police said. 
 
 Cody Harter, 24, was driving his maroon Chevy C71 extended cab truck about 7:30 p.m. Saturday when he allegedly pulled over to a median between Interstate 470 and MO-291. 
 
 That's where he exchanged words with another driver, police said. 
 
 Lees Summit Police Department 
 
 "It appears our victim was in traffic and involved in some type of altercation with another person in traffic," said Chris Depue, a spokesman for Lee's Summit Police Department. 
 
 Depue said many witnesses may have seen "some type of altercation" unfold between Harter and another man at the merger between the two thruways. 
 
 "Two cars are on the shoulder and [witnesses] saw two men outside those vehicles arguing in what appeared to be a disturbance or a fight," he said. 
 
 The dispute escalated and the unidentified motorist allegedly stabbed Harter before fleeing in his vehicle north on I-471, police said. 
 
 That driver is still on the lam, police said. Authorities did not say if witnesses provided descriptions of him or the vehicle he was driving. 
 
 Before the incident, Harter's family said he called them to let them know he was on his way home. 
 
 "He came down yesterday to pick up a mower," Harter's father, Mike, said Sunday. "He called his mom on the way home and said, 'I love you. I'll be home in just a bit.'" 
 
 The family made a heart wrenching plea to urge any witness who may have seen what happened to come forward to help track down the alleged killer. 
 
 "If you saw anything, even if you think it as nothing -- please call," the senior airman's mother, Kerrie, said through tears. "Let's find who did this senseless act so you're not sitting here when it's your child. Please call and send us a message ... Please." 
 
 Lees Summit Police Department 
 
 Kerrie Harter was flanked by her husband, their daughter Kylee, his fellow Air Force reservist, Armando, and Harter's girlfriend Shelby. 
 
 In a state of devastation and disbelief, Kerrie Harter said she was still hoping this was not real. 
 
 "I keep waiting for someone to tell me it's not true," she said. "That I'm going to wake up from this. But I'm not." 
 
 She said that while son managed to survive overseas fighting and protecting the country in deployment tours to Iraq and Qatar -- and helping in hurricane relief efforts in Houston and Puerto Rico -- he somehow died on a domestic road over what cops care calling a road rage incident. 
 
 "He had been to war and back, and to die because someone was angry," she said, stopping mid-sentence. "My son drove 65 MPH because he was so frugal with his gas mileage. 
 
 "I can only imagine someone was upset because he wasn't going fast enough," she continued. "But that's not a reason to take his life and leave him there." 
 
 Shane Keyser/Kansas City Star via Getty Images 
 
 His sister called out the killer for ditching her brother after whatever dispute the two may have had. 
 
 "I think you're a monster," Kylee Harter said. "You not only took my brother's life but you took everything away from us." 
 
 Sitting by her and holding hands was Harter's girlfriend, Shelby. 
 
 She could barely say any words -- only that she had planned to marry Harter and felt as though she and the family "were in a dark place right now." 
 
 "He was the love of my life," she said. 
 
 Harter's mother said her son died in the arms of other good Samaritan drivers who spotted him stumbling into traffic. 
 
 "I want to thank all the people that stopped and held his hand and prayed with him," she said. "Whoever did this may have thought he died alone. He did not die alone." 
 
 Harter was in his final semester at Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph to earn a degree in engineering technology. When he wasn't racing dirt bikes he was mowing lawns for a small business he started, his family said. 
 
 ABC News 
 
 "He loved his lawn care business because he could mow when he wanted to and get to the dirt track on weekends," Kerrie Harter said proudly. 
 
 And now she and the family are being forced to say goodbye. 
 
 "We're going to go home and go to the funeral home to make arrangements to bury my son," she said, breaking down in tears. 
 
 Then she recovered and said: "I don't want another mother to sit here."
– A Missouri Air National Guard member died in a highway median Saturday after what police suspect was a road-rage incident that took a deadly turn, reports KMBC. ABC News reports Cody Harter, variously identified as 23 and 24, was headed home to St. Joseph around 7:30pm when witnesses say he and another vehicle pulled over to a median where I-470 and MO-291 merged. Lee's Summit police say those witnesses believe the two drivers had an issue at that merging point, stopped their vehicles, and got out to exchange words; Harter was then stabbed in the chest, allegedly by that motorist, who then continued on I-470. Mom Kerrie Harter says her son "had been to war and back," serving tours in Iraq and Qatar as well as time spent in Houston and Puerto Rico after hurricanes struck there. "To die because someone was angry," she said, not finishing the sentence. "My son drove 65mph because he was so frugal with his gas mileage," she added, speculating the incident arose because her son wasn't driving fast enough. The Kansas City Star reports he was in the Lee's Summit area to replace a mower that went out on him; Harter was one semester out from getting his degree in technical engineering from Missouri Western State University and ran a lawn-mowing business on the side. "He called his mom on the way home and said, 'I love you. I'll be home in just a bit,'" says dad Mike Harter. The family is pleading for witnesses to come forward, as are police, who have not yet released a description of the suspect or his vehicle.