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Waiting for charges: Woman hit in the middle of highway, dragged for 3+ miles

TMJ4 News has been asking why the 19-year-old arrested for dragging the woman’s body has not been charged since New Year's Eve.
Posted at 5:59 PM, Jan 05, 2024
and last updated 2024-01-05 19:31:50-05

FOND DU LAC — To the case where a woman’s body was hit in the middle of a Fond du Lac County highway, then dragged for more than three miles.

Fond du Lac investigators say her body had been flung moments before from a rollover drunk driving crash.

TMJ4 News has been asking why the 19-year-old arrested for dragging the woman’s body has not been charged since New Year's Eve?

Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney says this is because there are so many unanswered questions, which includes how the woman died in the first place. They are investigating if Taya Grimes of Hartford died from the initial crash or when she was dragged. Toney said the results from the investigation could change the potential charges against the 19-year-old man, who is currently behind bars for ‘hit and run with injury.’ The suspect is not being named at this time because he has not been officially charged.

All of this happened in the early morning hours of New Year's Eve at a curve on Southbound 45 in the Town of Auburn.

The sheriff says the first crash carrying five people lost control and rolled after hitting a ditch. Four people were ejected including the driver from Hartford, Taya Grimes. Alcohol is believed to be a factor in the initial crash.

Her body and another 17-year-old were in the middle of the road when another car hit them, and Taya was dragged for more than three miles into Washington County.

Investigators believe there is more to the story about these crashes, including a party involving drugs at a nearby house before the crash, and a caravan of cars that had all left at the same time.

Toney said during Friday’s news conference, “If somebody was at that party and they saw any of the individuals that may have been at the scene of the crash, or were driving the vehicles in question and their level of potential impairment, if they were consuming alcohol, drugs, things of that nature, that's all very helpful information. Anybody that may have driven through the scene or may have saw something but maybe weren’t comfortable coming forward, please share that information with us.”

If you have any information about this crash, you’re asked to call the tip line at (920) 906-4777.


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