Police wrap up Boyd case
Driver innocent, investigator says
By TRAVIS PURSER
Express Staff Writer
The Hailey Police Department says it has all but concluded its
investigation into the fatal collision between a tractor-trailer rig and 9-year-old
bicyclist Cody Boyd.
Boyd’s death, they say, was an accident, and the driver didn’t
know what he had done.
"I have no evidence to charge him with anything," chief
investigator Brian McNary said during a telephone interview Monday.
Boyd was killed July 12 at the corner of Second Avenue and Bullion Street.
Police earlier stated that the truck had the right-of-way and Boyd apparently did not obey
a stop sign.
Because the truck didn’t stop after hitting Boyd, police began a
search for the driver and vehicle.
For two weeks, police have said they believe a Shoshone resident, Jerry
McClure, at the wheel of a blue Freightliner semi pulling two flatbed trailers, was the
driver involved in the accident. Police did not make public the driver’s name.
McNary has been waiting for DNA test results from the state crime lab in
Meridian that would conclusively determine that McClure is the person police are looking
for. But in a telephone interview yesterday, he said the lab has declined to complete the
work because no crime is involved.
McNary said lab personnel came to that conclusion after reading a
five-page, single-spaced report he sent with the evidence.
He said lab personnel told him they had too much other work involving
crimes to spend time on an accident.
Nevertheless, McNary said he is "90 percent sure" McClure was
the driver of the truck that killed Boyd.
That’s because tire tracks left at the scene match a tire on the
truck McClure was driving on July 12. And, during an interview with police, McClure said
he drove through the intersection at the time Boyd was killed.
McNary said the lab might determine whether a microscopic sample of blood
taken from one of the truck’s mud flaps is human. If so, he said he would then be
"99.9 percent sure" McClure was the driver involved.
McNary said he will send a report to county Prosecuting Attorney Doug
Werth, who will make the final decision on whether to press charges. Given the evidence,
however, McNary said, "I see little chance of prosecuting at this point."
