15-year-old in critical condition after hit and run
by: Whitney Fowkes
Posted: Aug 12, 2019 / 06:19 PM CDT / Updated: Aug 13, 2019 / 10:44 AM CDT
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) – The Lincoln County Sheriff's Department needs your help finding the person who critically injured a 15-year-old girl, then left her lying on the interstate.
Officials say the 911 call came in just before 3 a.m. Monday.
The caller said there was a person on Interstate 29, between the Tea and Harrisburg exits. When they got there, authorities found a girl lying on the side of the northbound interstate.
Investigators spent hours scouring the ditches and searching this stretch of interstate for clues about what happened to the teenage girl.
"She was either standing or walking along the interstate and was struck by a car, or an unknown vehicle it doesn't necessarily have to be a car, and that vehicle continued on. Right now, we're looking for any information that anyone would have on her, the person that ran into her, or the person that ran into her turn themselves in," Lincoln County Sheriff Steve Swenson said.
A green car found on the side of the interstate is believed to be the victim's; Swenson said she was nearby when it happened.
"There's a lot of stuff we're still investigating. There's a lot of evidence left there that we're digging into, but where she was hit along that between the car and where she was laying is not known at this time," Swenson said.
When we spoke with the sheriff, he told us no witnesses had come forward.
"There's going to be more information to follow. We'll try to keep updating our Facebook page to reach out to people, but again, if anybody knows anything… I guess the right thing to do would be to either help us find the person that hit this girl or that person turn themselves in," Swenson said.
The local girl is in a hospital with life-threatening injuries.
"Anytime you injure someone and leave the scene that is a felony crime. It's a felony hit and run, but I guess the charges are the minimum we want to know what happened to the girl and do everything, do anything that we can do to help the family understand what happened to their kid," Swenson said.
If you have any information you can call 605-764-5651.