PHILLIPS COUNTY, Mont. (NMB) – The Phillips County Sheriff’s Office has identified the 15-year-old Dodson boy that was killed in a single-vehicle rollover crash on US-2 early Sunday morning west of Malta as Landon Ray Cole.
Montana Highway Patrol Trooper Matt Erickson was dispatched to the scene at 11 AM Sunday morning, but the crash is believed to have occurred between midnight and 3 AM.
Erickson says the victim, who did not have a license, was driving a four wheel drive Chevy Blazer eastbound at mile marker 465.4 when he drifted to the right side of the road. The driver then over corrected, causing the vehicle to roll over several times. It came to rest on its wheels in an irrigation ditch out of sight of the highway.
The victim was not wearing a seat belt and was ejected from the vehicle. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The investigation is ongoing, and alcohol and excessive speed are both suspected factors.
There were no other occupants of the vehicle.
