ST. GEORGE, Utah - Utah Highway Patrol officials are looking for a truck they believe was involved in a deadly auto pedestrian accident Thursday morning along I-15.
It happened near Exit 4 in Washington County. UHP officials said they first got a call about an abandoned car on the northbound shoulder just before 6 a.m. Troopers investigated and said, while finding cars isn’t uncommon, this one was suspicious.
“The keys were in the ignition and there was a purse on the floorboard on the driver’s side,” said Sgt. Danny Ferguson of the Utah Highway Patrol. “There were also several pieces of paper that had an individual, a female’s name on it, and the letters “DNR”, which to us means: “do not resuscitate.”
While troopers tried to track down an owner, dispatch got another call. In the morning light, joggers had spotted a body of a woman alongside the freeway, just north of the car.
“She was deceased on scene,” Ferguson said. “Even though the officer is an EMT, he did call for local medical to check the individual out and confirm it was a fatality.”
Ferguson said it appears the 42-year-old St George woman was walking the road when she was hit by a large truck. The victim’s identity was not immediately released. Ferguson said the woman had a note pinned to her with the same “DNR” message. Her dog was also hit and killed.
Ferguson said that while it does appear to be a potential suicide, they’re not ruling anything out at this point. One of the most concerning facts is that truck driver didn’t stop. They have a headlight they believe came off the truck, but they’re asking for the public’s help, looking for any clues on who that driver might be.
“We would hope that anyone who had hit anything would at least stop and see what was going on and check into it,” Ferguson said.
Traffic on northbound I-15 was down to one lane for several hours while the State Bureau of Investigations documented the scene. The northbound entrance at Exit 4 was also closed, an inconvenience for motorists, but Ferguson said it was important to give investigators a safe area.
