GREAT FALLS – Authorities have released the name of the Hill County woman who died on November 9.
Hill County Sheriff Jamieson Ross said in a press release on Tuesday that deputies were dispatched for a report of a missing woman last Thursday about 15 miles south of Havre on Bullhook Road.
Deputies found Kyla Ashely Valdez of Havre, 19, laying in a snow-covered ditch; she was taken to Northern Montana Hospital and then airlifted to a Great Falls hospital via Mercy Flight helicopter.
She died the next morning.
Sheriff Ross said that, based on the investigation at this point, Valdez died of exposure to the elements after she was intentionally abandoned on the rural road with inadequate clothing for the frigid temperatures.
Her body has been sent to the State Crime Lab for an autopsy to determine the cause and manner of death.
Alaynna Gray of Havre, 25, has been charged with negligent homicide and driving under the influence in connection with Valdez’s death.
