A Missouri sheriff’s deputy responding to a call about a person lying unresponsive in a road struck the teenager he had been sent to help, according to the St. Francois County Sheriff’s Department. Persephone Berger, 16, was pronounced dead at the scene on October 3, 2026.
Her aunt, Kimberly Cabuchola, told CBS News: “They blatantly lied to us and said she was involved in a hit-and-run.” She said the coroner was the only person who contacted Berger’s father about his daughter’s death.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol is conducting an independent crash investigation, while the sheriff’s department is examining how Berger came to be in the road before the collision.
Berger’s obituary remembers a choir member who had been singing since fifth grade, loved Harry Potter, and enjoyed hikes with friends and family. Her aunt said she had been returning home from a nearby party when she was struck.
On Davis Crossing
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Deputies responded at approximately 3:43 a.m. to the 5400 block of Davis Crossing Road. The caller remained at the scene and was described in the release as being next to the unresponsive person.
Approaching near the 5300 block, the deputy saw the caller’s vehicle ahead with its hazard lights activated, but did not see Berger in the roadway before striking her. He remained at the scene and immediately notified his supervisor; sheriff’s detectives arrived to examine what happened before and during the collision.
Sheriff Jeffrey Crites also rejected claims that the crash involved a vehicle pursuit or that the deputy left the scene, calling them “false social media claims.”
The Highway Patrol was consulted on Sunday, October 4. An autopsy the following day produced preliminary findings of no evidence of previous physical injuries and injuries consistent with the deputy’s vehicle striking Berger. After those findings, the department requested the independent crash investigation. Toxicology results and the final autopsy report were pending in the October 5 release.
The Days After
In an interview with First Alert 4, Cabuchola said witnesses told her a deputy was involved before the sheriff’s department told the family Monday afternoon. She also questioned why the Highway Patrol had not been notified immediately.
Crites responded to the station’s questions Tuesday. He said he was not there Saturday and could not establish exactly what the family had been told. A hit-and-run had initially been a possible explanation, he said, but further examination and the preliminary autopsy indicated Berger had been struck by one vehicle, the deputy’s.
He also said the department has body cameras rather than in-car cameras, and that he understood the deputy’s body camera had been activated and the footage turned over to the Highway Patrol.
Berger’s funeral service is scheduled for noon Central time on October 10 at C.Z. Boyer & Son Funeral Home’s Desloge Chapel.