Special Deputy Charles Burns was killed in a head-on traffic accident while he and another deputy were escorting prisoners back to Camden County Jail.

At 8:30 am on December 30, 1966, Deputy Burns and Deputy Gordon Armstrong were escorting two prisoners wanted for auto theft from Colorado to the Camden County jail when they were involved in a head-on collision on Route 64 approximately one-half mile east of Cedar Springs, Missouri. Two of the prisoners and one of the occupants of the second vehicle died in the collision. Deputy Burns died from head injuries and a fractured skull. Deputy Armstrong survived. The driver of a third vehicle that turned in front of the deputies' vehicle was not located.

Deputy Burns was interred at Osage City Cemetery, Kansas.