Air Force Veteran Cody Harter Fatally Stabbed, Family Wants Answers

Cody Harter, 23, a member of the Missouri Air National Guard, was fatally stabbed in a road rage incident Saturday.

Harter was driving his Chevy C71 truck near the junction of Missouri 291 and Interstate 470 at 7:30 p.m. local time (8:30 p.m. EDT) when he got into a confrontation with the driver of another vehicle, which stopped in front of his truck, eyewitnesses said. The police believe that Harter's argument with the second driver escalated into an altercation.

"It appears our victim was in traffic and involved in some type of altercation with another person in traffic," Chris Depue, a spokesman for Lee's Summit Police Department, told ABC News. "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.”

The second unidentified person is believed to have stabbed Harter in the chest once before fleeing in his vehicle north on Interstate 471. It is not clear if witnesses provided any description of the suspect or his vehicle.

In a press conference Sunday, Harter’s grieving mother said she still could not believe that her son was really gone.

“I keep waiting for someone to tell me it's not true, that I'm going to wake up from this, but I'm not,” she said.

"He did a tour over in Iraq and he was in Qatar," his mother added. "He helped with hurricane relief in Houston and Puerto Rico. He loved everyone. He would help anybody. He only had one semester left until he graduated with an engineering technology degree.”

Apart from that, Harter was also a lawn care business owner and an aspiring dirtbike racer. “He was not just a number. He was a person,” his mother said.

She said she could not make sense of what had happened.

"It was senseless. He's been to war and back and to die because someone was angry," she said. "I can only imagine someone was upset because he wasn't going fast enough. Is that a reason to take his life and leave him there?"

Drivers reported a man stumbling in traffic. A few good Samaritans even got out of their cars and held the victim’s hand, praying, as they waited for law enforcement to arrive. The police found Harter collapsed in the inner median on 291 Highway near the Interstate 470 merger. He died at the scene.

"My son did not die alone even though whoever did this, you left him out there to die alone,” Harter’s mother said Fox4KC reported.

His sister was also present at the conference. "I think you're a monster," she said. "You not only took my brother's life but you took everything away from us."

Harter’s father said the last thing his son said to them before he died was that he was coming home.

"He came down yesterday to pick up a mower," Harter's father said. "He called his mom on the way home and said, 'I love you. I'll be home in just a bit.'"

The Harter family pleaded anyone with any knowledge of the suspect to come forward and help solve Harter’s murder.

"If you saw anything, even if you think it as nothing -- please call," Harter’s mother said. "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."

Anyone who wishes to reach out with a tip about the suspect responsible for Harter’s death can call TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS or 816-474-8477.