New London teen dies in mishap

DANVILLE ? A teenage girl was killed on Saturday at approximately 8:05 p.m. in an accident involving a tractor and an SUV on US Highway 34 near Jimtown Road.

Emma Ritchey, 15, of New London died after the Mercury Mountaineer she was riding in, driven by her mother, Bonnie Cooper, rear-ended an auger being pulled by the tractor.

Ritchey was sitting in the front passenger seat. Cooper suffered only minor injuries and was not transported to the hospital. The driver of the tractor, Daniel Burnett, of Illinois was not injured. According to an official at the Des Moines County Sheriff?s office, Ritchey was killed instantly.

Both vehicles were traveling west on US Highway 34.

The accident remains under investigation by the Iowa State Patrol and the Des Moines County Sheriff?s office.