The family of a Durango woman who was hit and killed by a passing vehicle last month in north Durango is raising money to investigate the crash in greater detail.
A GoFundMe account seeks to raise $15,000 to hire a crash reconstructionist from the Front Range. The GoFundMe account was created Tuesday and had raised $4,610 as of Friday afternoon.
“As of the time I am writing this, there has been no accident reconstruction by local authorities or anyone else involved,” the page says. “We believe that there are many answers to be uncovered about what happened.”
Katie Marie Siegrist, 27, was walking north on Animas View Drive, a narrow and mostly unlit road, about 7:45 p.m. Sept. 14 when she was struck from behind by a 1987 Jeep Wrangler being driven by Olivia Marie Burkhart, 66, of Durango, according to the Durango Police Department.
Siegrist died about five days later at a hospital in Grand Junction.
Burkhart told police she did not see the pedestrian until the last second. Neither drugs nor alcohol are suspected, and excessive speed is not suspected, Durango police Cmdr. Deck Shaline said in a previous interview.
Police said it was raining at the time of the crash. There is also no lighting on that section of road and almost no shoulder to walk on. Siegrist was wearing dark clothing with no flashlight or reflective material.
No citations have been issued.
Durango police did not immediately respond to a request for comment about whether an accident reconstruction was done.
A family member of Siegrist’s declined to comment for this story.
The GoFundMe page can be viewed by searching “Katie Siegrist's accident reconstruction fees.”
shane@durangoherald.com
