‘Extremely tragic’: Top of tree snaps off and hits car, killing teenager on Idaho highway

McCALL (Idaho Statesman) — A 13-year-old McCall boy was killed last week when the top of a large pine tree snapped off during a windy storm, hitting the car in which he was riding.

Coltin Jones was pronounced dead last Wednesday at the scene on Idaho Highway 55 after first responders were unable to save him, Boise County Sheriff Scott Turner told the Idaho Statesman in a phone interview. His grandmother, who was driving the vehicle, was transported to a hospital with “serious injuries.” They were the only people in the car.

Turner said the accident, which happened at around 5:20 p.m. north of Horseshoe Bend, was not announced last week “out of respect for the family.”

Jones was finishing eighth grade at Payette Lakes Middle School, according to an obituary published Tuesday in the Statesman. The last day of the school year was Friday.

He wanted to be a cowboy from the time he was little and rode bulls in a junior high school rodeo, the obituary said. Jones “had a heart of gold” and “loved the outdoors.” He enjoyed fishing, camping, riding horses and working on his dirt bike. Before he was killed, he and his grandmother had just shared an “amazing day.”

“It was definitely extremely tragic for the family, obviously, and the first responders,” Turner said. “It was a pretty tough crash.”