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DPS Identifies Victim In AG Ravnsborg Fatal Crash

The Department of Public Safety is identifying the victim in a fatal crash involving South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg.

Ravnsborg told the Hyde County Sheriff’s Office he thought he had hit a deer.

Officials say 55 year old Joseph Boever died Saturday night in a pedestrian-vehicle crash west of Highmore.

According to the Department of Public Safety, Ravnsborg was driving westbound on US Highway 14, when he struck Boever.

Boever’s body was discovered the next morning.

Nick Nemec, of Holabird, is Boever’s cousin and identified the body on Sunday. He suspects the Attorney General was distracted if he mistook hitting a deer for hitting a person.

“We want answers, why it’s taken so long for authorities to get their ducks in a row,” Nemec says. “It sounds like that’s what they’re trying to do, is get their ducks in a row and it stinks.”

Governor Kristi Noem held a press conference in Sioux Falls Sunday afternoon. Nemec says he and Boever’s brother didn’t identify the body until Sunday evening.

Attorney General Ravnsborg says he’s “shocked and filled with sorrow” over Saturday night’s events. He offers condolences to the family of the deceased and says he’ll cooperate with the ongoing investigation.

South Dakota’s Highway Patrol says its taking the lead on the investigation into the crash. They say all information remains preliminary at this point.

Lee Strubinger is the politics and public policy reporter for SDPB.

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Lee Strubinger is SDPB’s Rapid City-based news and political reporter. A former reporter for Fort Lupton Press (CO) and Colorado Public Radio, Lee holds a master’s in public affairs reporting from the University of Illinois-Springfield.