A 15-year-old girl was killed instantly after running in front of a semi-truck in Fairplay Monday night.
Kharlee Cordova, 15, was playing with a friend in front of the Dinky Dairy when she ran out into Highway 285 near the Highway 9 juncture, said Julie Sky, a spokesperson for the family.
“It was just horseplay,” Sky said.
Although she had been homeschooled for the past year, Cordova remained involved with activities at Fairplay High School and planned on returning to finish the semester.
Grief counselors and a unit from Pikes Peak Mental Health were dispatched to the school immediately following the death, said Charles Soper, superintendent of Park County Schools.
For the small community of Fairplay, Cordova’s death continues a year of tragedies.
“We had a suicide two weeks ago, the art teacher died and Platte Canyon happened in the fall,” Sky said. “We’ve buried a lot of people in the past year.”
Cordova had recently helped her mother, Birgit Bristol, Ms. Colorado UN, compete in the Ms. United States UN pageant in September.
Cordova is survived by her mother, her siblings Claude Cordova, 10, and Danielle Cordova, 13 and her father, Amos Cordova, of Denver.
The family will hold a memorial service on Friday.
Staff writer Gabriela Resto-Montero can be reached at 303-954-1638 or at grestomontero@denverpost.com.
