A Montana woman has filed suit against CRST after finding body parts at a car wash.
Kimberly Kriege claims CRST is responsible for trauma she sustained after finding a man’s face lying on the ground at a truck wash.
According to the lawsuit (2:15-cv-00084), the face belonged to 81-year-old Elgie Bedford. On September 30, 2013, Bedford was walking along Interstate 90 near Big Timber when he was struck and killed by a CRST truck driven by David Welk.
The Juneau Empire reports that Michael Karls, Welk’s co-driver, told investigators that he was in the bunk at the time of the incident. Karls said he felt the truck strike something. He asked Welk what they’d hit and Welk allegedly replied, “I just hit someone.”
The team drivers discussed whether they may have hit a bear or something else.
“Welk turned his semi-truck around and drove to the impact location, where he used a flashlight to observe objects lying on the highway,” Kriege says in the complaint. “Welk told his co-worker that he saw clothing and a duffle bag when he actually saw Bedford’s body.”
Karl allegedly told investigators when Welk returned to the truck, he was acting “strange and nervous.”
Welk and Karl continued on their route while Bedford’s lifeless body lie on the interstate.
At approximately 7:30 a.m., Montana Highway Patrol discovered Bedford’s mangled body. Investigators believe multiple vehicles ran over Bedford’s body, including a Ford pickup driven by Wryan Young.
After hitting Bedford’s body, Young allegedly drove her pickup to a Livingston car wash, where the water flushed away a “large portion of Bedford’s face” onto the car wash bay.
Kriege, who had gone to wash her vehicle, discovered Bedford’s body parts. In the court document, Kriege said that finding “a large recognizable part of a human face” left her traumatized and that she needed “intensive psychological counseling” after the incident.
Some time after the accident, Welk’s co-driver called to report the hit and run. Welk was arrested on hit and run charges on January 23, 2014.
Young was charged with leaving the scene of an accident and tampering with evidence. In late 2014, the charges against Young were dismissed. Young testified in Welk’s trial.
There is no word on how much Kriege is seeking.
Sources:
Courthouse News
Juneau Empire
Frontiersman