Bellingham woman killed while reportedly running across I-5 Saturday evening

A 31-year-old Bellingham woman died Saturday evening after she was hit by a car on Interstate 5 south of Blaine while she was reportedly running across the southbound lanes.

Amanda Jean Mitchell was pronounced dead at the scene near milepost 271 at the junction with Loomis Trail Road after she was hit by a purple 2008 Lexus RX350 at approximately 5:05 p.m., according to the Washington State Patrol release on the incident.

According to the release, Mitchell ran across the median and into the southbound lanes and was struck. The 38-year-old male driver from Snohomish was uninjured and was not cited.

Washington State Patrol Trooper Heather Axtman told The Bellingham Herald in an interview Monday that there were reports that Mitchell had taken off her clothes before being hit and that toxicology tests were not yet available.

The freeway was blocked for two and a half hours as a result of the incident, the release says.

Mitchell’s death was the 13th traffic fatality in Whatcom County in 2018, according to the Washington State Department of Transportation Crash Data Portal, though it was the second in just more than 48 hours.

This story was originally published November 19, 2018 at 7:24 AM.