The
Saginaw Chippewa Tribe isn't commenting about a fatal crash that claimed the life of a high school student and resulted in injuries to a second teen.
Evan Duffiney was only 16 years old when he died on Sunday. He was going to be a sophomore at
Shepherd High School, where classes began a day later.
According to The Mt. Pleasant Morning Sun, tribal officers were the first on the scene. They are deputized in Isabella County to handle different types of incidents, including those involving non-Indians, the sheriff told the paper.
But the paper's efforts to obtain more information have not resulted in much success. It appears the tribe's police department is the only agency that has investigated the accident.
“I would not be able to comment on another agency’s cases or investigations as a matter of protocol and respect,” county sheriff Michael Main told the paper.
Duffiney is being laid to rest this Saturday,
according to his obituary.
"It has been a very tough time for our community as we try to come to terms with a young life lost," Luke Sawyer, the police chief in the village of Shepherd, where the accident occurred, wrote in a
post on Facebook.
A second student who was injured is recovering, The Morning Sun reported.
A
settlement finalized in 2010 includes portions of Isabella County in the tribe's reservation. Shepherd falls outside of the boundaries, according to a
map of the Isabella Reservation, but the tribe recently partnered with the schools there, according to a
post on Facebook.
Turtle Talk has posted document from the case,
Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe v. Granholm.
Read More on the Story
Mystery of fatal crash grows as Tribe remains silent
(The Mt. Pleasant Morning Sun August 28, 2018)
Shepherd students push blue-out to remember student killed in crash (The Mt. Pleasant Morning Sun August 27, 2018)
Family opens up after loss of Shepherd High School student
(WNEM August 27, 2018)
Shepherd High School Mourning Loss of Student Killed in Car Crash
(9 and 10 News August 27, 2018)
Shepherd mourns teen killed in crash
(The Mt. Pleasant Morning Sun August 26, 2018)
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