1 year later, authorities still searching for driver of crash that left a family doctor dead

Authorities and family members held a news conference on Wednesday asking anyone with leads on a deadly hit-and-run crash in Mille Lacs County to come forward.

Cathy Donovan, a 56-year-old who had been a family doctor for nearly 30 years, was hit while walking her dogs on the side of Highway 169 in Onamia exactly one year ago.

Dr. Cathy Donovan (Mille Lacs Health System)

Donovan’s sisters, Dr. Robin Councilman and Christy Pemberton, were joined by Dr. Arden Virnig — the chief of staff at Mille Lacs Health System, where Donovan worked — and Mille Lacs County Sheriff Kyle Burton near the on Highway 169 where she was struck and killed.

Councilman recalled the news conference her family held nearly a year ago offering a $10,000 reward for information in the case. That reward has now been raised to $25,000.

“At that time, I think I spoke with a lot of compassion about the person who killed her,” Councilman said. “I really thought it was somebody who was likely driving impaired, distracted and were appalled and scared by what they had done and would eventually decide they can’t live with themselves and come forward and accept responsibility. … And yet this has been a very long year that has proven me wrong.”

Christy Pemberton, another of Donovan’s sisters, said the person responsible “abruptly and violently ended the life of a beautiful, loving, generous, encouraging, giving mother, daughter, sister, niece, aunt, friend and healer.”

She emphasized that investigators believe Donovan was carried on the hood of the suspect vehicle for hundreds, if not thousands of feet before falling off.

“Unless they were literally asleep at the wheel, they had to have known what they did,” Pemberton said. “They knew they hit her before they drove away, and they consciously chose to leave her in the street, not knowing whether she was alive.”

Investigators thought they made a break in the case back in March, but later cleared the driver of a Tesla, which was seen on video in the area around the time it happened.

Burton said a witness told investigators that Donovan was speaking to someone in a sedan — possibly a Ford Focus — briefly before she was hit. The sheriff says that driver’s identity could help crack the case.

“I want to know who that person is, and I want to know who the driver of that car was,” Burton said. “It could be absolutely relevant to this investigation, and it’s one of those stones that’s still unturned.”

Meanwhile, Donovan’s family members are holding out hope that the person responsible is brought to justice.

“And so please, if you know something, if you suspect something, if you are the person who did this, please come forward. Give that information to law enforcement or to Crime Stoppers,” Councilman said. “Nothing will bring Cathy back to us, but a small amount of justice would help us move forward and heal.”

Anyone with information on the case is asked to call the Mille Lacs County Sheriff’s Office at 320-983-8346.