A 16-year-old Missouri girl was fatally struck by a sheriff’s vehicle, while her family says authorities initially told them she had died in a hit-and-run.
Persephone Berger was lying in a roadway when a St. Francois County Sheriff’s Office vehicle hit her at approximately 3:45 a.m. Saturday, according to KMOV.
Berger had been making her way back to her home in Park Hills after reportedly sneaking out to a party the night before. A witness discovered her in the road and alerted police.
“While approaching [the scene], the Deputy did not see the [girl] in the roadway and subsequently struck [her],” Sheriff Jeff Crites said in a statement.
The circumstances that left Berger in the road remain unclear. Her father, Jarred Berger, was initially informed by law enforcement that his daughter had been killed in a hit-and-run, according to her aunt, Kimberly Cabuchola.
A preliminary autopsy determined that Berger’s injuries were “consistent with those sustained from the responding Deputy’s vehicle,” authorities said.
Cabuchola said she understood that “accidents happen” and would not have blamed the driver—who is about 23 years old and had been with the department for roughly three months—had the sheriff’s office been forthcoming from the start.
“All they had to do was say ‘Our officer accidentally ran over your child and she died,’” the grieving relative told KMOV. “That’s all they had to do. But no.”
“To try and cover it up and to lie to our family? Why? Why would they need to do that? We could have forgiven that officer.”
Cabuchola also condemned the sheriff’s office for waiting to contact Berger’s father.
“The lies… not calling the right people in,” she said. “Not reaching out to my brother for three days. That wasn’t an accident.
“The only [person] that contacted him within that three-day [period] was the coroner, to tell us that she was so badly mangled that we needed to have a closed coffin for her.”
“I want to go over to that county jail and tell them, you know. I want to scream and I want to cuss at them. But I know I can’t. I know I can’t. Just tell us the truth.”
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Crites has offered few comments about the family’s claim that Berger was initially described as a hit-and-run victim, noting that he was not the deputy who responded to the scene.
Toxicology results are still pending, and the Missouri State Highway Patrol is expected to conduct an independent investigation.
Investigators are also awaiting the final autopsy findings. In the meantime, friends and relatives have paid tribute to Berger, whom her family remembered as an “avid Harry Potter fan.”
“Throughout her years, Persephone blossomed into a caring and compassionate young woman, always ready with a smile and a kind word for everyone she met,” her family wrote in an obituary.
“A passionate member of her school choir since fifth grade, she filled the halls with her beautiful voice and infectious enthusiasm.
“She had an outgoing spirit and was affectionately known as a social butterfly, radiating warmth and kindness to those around her. In her free time, Persephone loved to embark on hikes and engage with nature, cherishing the adventures she shared with her friends and family.”
Her sister, Allison Berger, described the Harry Potter fan as someone who was “exciting” and “so full of life.”
“I love you so much Persephone and we miss you more than you would ever even imagine,” she wrote online on Saturday.
Students at Berger’s school, West County High School, wore pink on Monday and hundreds of mourners attended a vigil.
“She was just a really lively, understanding person. She never judged a soul. Like, she was just a really sweet person,” Emma Houser said, revealing the atmosphere in school was “so dull” following her death.
“She felt kind of like an older sister and like someone you can lean on and talk to about anything,” she said.
Riley Skaggs, one of Berger’s pals, described her as someone who was “fun, loving [and] very smart.”