Name Released in Single Vehicle Accident

Authorities have identified the pedestrian killed early Monday in Itasca County as a 14-year-old girl.

According to the State Patrol, Dakota K. Jones and a 13-year-old girl were walking in the southbound lane of Highway 169 when they were struck by a 2002 Chevrolet Monte Carlo driven by 18 year old Matthew Dean Tombeck, of Marble, Minnesota. 

The collision occurred around 1:25 a.m. near Coleraine. Jones was pronounced dead at the scene. The 13-year-old victim was airlifted to St. Mary’s Medical Center in Duluth with what troopers at the scene described as non-life-threatening injuries. 

No details have been released by authorities as to where the girls were heading when they were struck.

Officials say the driver had not been consuming alcohol prior to the accident. The driver and a passenger in the vehicle suffered no apparent injury.