A 17-year-old Loveland girl was killed in a single-car rollover accident on a Larimer County road early Thursday, reported Colorado State Patrol Master Trooper Ron Watkins.
Investigators identified the girl as Carolina Ramirez.
Alcohol or drugs are suspected as a factor in the crash, Watkins said. The results of a toxicology test are pending.
Investigators are investigating a report that the car was stolen from a party in Larimer County on Wednesday night, Watkins said.
“The owner of the vehicle did file a police report,” he said. “The car didn’t belong to the girl. She apparently got hold of the keys and took off with it. The stories have changed a couple of times.”
The owner of the 2004 Dodge Neon and the victim were acquainted, he said.
Fort Collins police notified the State Patrol just before 7 a.m. of the crashed car and the dead teenager on Larimer County Road 17, also known as South Shield Street, near Trilby Road, Watkins said.
Patrol investigators determined Ramirez had been driving the Neon northbound on the county road when she lost control, ran off the right side of the road, traveled 227 feet down an embankment and rolled the car about three times.
Ramirez wasn’t wearing a seat belt, and she was thrown from the car, Watkins said. The car came to rest on its wheels in an open field east of the road, and Ramirez was found 81 feet north of the car.
The time of the crash was estimated at 1:30 a.m., he said.
Staff writer Jim Kirksey can be reached at 303-820-1448 or jkirksey@denverpost.com.
