Pedestrian on I-5 dies after apparent hit-and-run incident near Bow Hill rest area
A 53-year-old Burlington woman who was walking along southbound Interstate 5 early Wednesday near the Bow Hill rest stop was struck and killed by two vehicles, the first of which left the scene.
Tonya L. Pearson died at the scene, according to the Washington State Patrol report on the incident.
Pearson was walking in a southbound lane near milepost 237 at approximately 1:17 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 20, when she was apparently struck by an unknown vehicle, the report stated.
She was later struck by a 2017 Freightliner semi-truck, driven by Jason L. Merrill, 46 of Mariposa, California. Merrill remained at the scene and was uninjured in the incident, according to the report.
Pearson’s vehicle was found parked on the northbound side of the freeway, Trooper Heather Axtman told The Bellingham Herald, and the State Patrol had located the vehicle shortly before she was struck on the other side of the freeway.
Troopers also received reports of a woman attempting to flag down traffic in the area near the time of the incident, Axtman said.
“During the course of the investigation, we found car parts that did not match the damage that was done to the semi,” Axtman told The Herald.
Among the parts, Axtman said, were a mirror and some amber lighting, which Axtman said have been taken into evidence and will be sent to the crime lab for analysis.
“They will be examined to the furthest extent we possibly can,” Axtman said. “There is a lot they can do to find what type of car was involved. ...
“We don’t know if what happened was criminal — it’s still early in the investigation. We don’t even know if the driver of the first car realized they struck a person. We don’t know what kind of car it was or at what angle the woman was struck at. There are so many questions that we just don’t know, but we are going to invest everything we can into answering those questions and getting this family closure.”
According to Washington State Department of Transportation tweets, the interstate was closed until 6:28 a.m. Wednesday.
This story was originally published November 20, 2019 at 8:06 AM.
