Teenager Identified In Deadly Hit-and-Run On HWY 49
Sonora, CA – The CHP has identified the female teenager who died after being struck by a vehicle while walking on the shoulder of Highway 49 in Sonora.
She is 17-year-old Molly Burgess of Sonora. The deadly incident happened the evening of Sunday, February 28th. As earlier reported here, initially the CHP was not calling it a hit-and-run, as spokesperson Steve Machado stated that the incident was “not suspicious, but undetermined as to what led up to that event.”
The next day, the CHP acknowledged that Burgess had been hit by a vehicle, as detailed here. She was left lying in a nearby ditch suffering from major injuries. At the time Machado noted, “We do believe that the suspicious part is why the person fled the scene, but we don’t think it is foul play as far as anything more than just somebody being struck by a vehicle that unfortunately succumbed to those injuries as a result and the responsible party fled the scene.”
Today, Machado gave Clarke Broadcasting this update on the case, “We don’t have the vehicle or the driver at this time.” He added, “We don’t have any details that we are releasing. However, we do have officers who are investigating this collision. We are trying to follow information that has been given to see if we can determine who is at fault for this collision and hopefully make contact with this person.”
Anyone with information on the driver of the vehicle is asked to call the Sonora Unit of the CHP at 209-984-3944 and can remain anonymous.
