A 7-year-old girl was looking for help after she thought her dad died in a crash - and then she was struck and killed by another driver, Michigan State Police said.
The girl's dad had been driving while drunk, according to Lt. Mike Shaw.
"A drunk driver was operating, lost control of the vehicle, struck an abandoned vehicle on the side of the road, went off the freeway and into some fencing," Shaw said in a video update on Twitter. That was at about 3:30 a.m. on Sunday.
The 7-year-old girl was in the car at the time of the crash, Shaw said.
After the girl's dad crashed and was unconscious, the girl grabbed her belongings and left the vehicle, Shaw said in the video. She then climbed over the broken fence and went to look for help.
Thinking her dad was dead, the girl texted 911 that she needed help, according to a tweet by Michigan State Police. She chose to text police because she was unable to call, FOX2 reported.
Police were able to immediately respond, according to a tweet. "It's the same as a 911 call," the department said.
Then, as the girl attempted to cross I-94, she was struck and killed by another driver.
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That driver called 911 and told the Michigan State Police she thought she may have hit a person or animal, Shaw said in the video. But when troopers arrived, they were unaware of the text messages sent to the local police department and did not find any sign or evidence that she struck someone. They did not find a person or animal in the area, according to a tweet.
It was a "short time later" that Michigan State Police learned that the Romulus Police Department had been receiving texts from the girl and that the department was investigating an alleged drunk driving crash.
The girl's body was then found about 50 to 150 feet away from her dad's car, the Detroit News reported. Police said she was killed instantly.
It took officers from both departments about 15 to 20 minutes to connect the three incidents, Shaw said.
"So here's a poor 7-year-old child that won't get her life back," Shaw said. "Her father was involved in that crash who lost his daughter. Her mom whose been notified has lost her child. And there's somebody that's going to drive around the rest of their life knowing that they were involved in a traffic crash that killed a 7-year-old girl."
The girl's father is in custody, the Michigan State Police tweeted. The woman who hit the girl was released.
Burts told FOX2 that she didn't want to comment on the reports that her husband had been driving while under the influence, but rather on her daughter's life.
"She was a beautiful thing, she was on her way to the third grade," Burts told the station. "She was 7 years old - she would give you the shirt off her back. She was so helpful."