A small Missouri community is grieving this week after 16-year-old Persephone Berger was killed early Saturday morning. According to the St. Francois County Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded around 3:43 a.m. to a report of an unresponsive person on a roadway. As one deputy approached the scene, his patrol car struck Persephone. Sheriff Jeffrey Crites says the deputy did not see her in time, it was not a pursuit, and the deputy remained on scene. The Missouri State Highway Patrol is conducting an independent crash investigation, and a preliminary autopsy found no injuries beyond those from the collision.
Friends remember Persephone as someone who left a mark on everyone she met. “She was just a really lively, understanding person,” said friend Emma Houser. “She never judged a soul.” Another friend called her one of the best people he had ever known. A candlelight vigil Monday night drew classmates and neighbors together, and friends are organizing a T-shirt fundraiser and GoFundMe to support her parents and three siblings.
Stories like this land hard, even hundreds of miles from home. Here on the Suncoast, we know what it means to rally around a family in their hardest moment. If there’s one thing to take from this, it’s that the people we love should hear it from us often. How do you show up for neighbors going through something unthinkable?
