Chapel Hill Postal Worker Killed During Family Reunion in Michigan

Posted by Pierce EgertonAugust 03, 2009 8:27 PM

Family and friends remembered Postal worker Julie Hatch yesterday at the Estes Dr. Post Office in Chapel Hill. A wreath of flowers sat in the lobby. The 31 year old had been attending a family reunion with her partner Jonel Hoogterp in Newton Township Michigan.

"The crash July 25 happened during the Hoogterp family reunion, a decades-long event that draws family and friends from across the country, according to the Grand Rapids Press."

A group of over 20 reunion atendees was walking down the road around 9:30 p.m. on July 27th when a Truck crossed the center line and hit the group from behind. Hatch and Sara Dobbrastine were both killed along with some family pets. Jonel Hoogterp was taken off life support yesterday, bringing the total killed in the accident to three. Friends had set up a fund to raise money for her hospital care over the weekend, as hoogterp had no insurance. The driver, Dustan Lyle Bowen, 28, fled the scene after the collision. He faces multiple charges including failure to stop at the scene of an accident resilting in death and second degree murder. he was also driving outside of his license restrictions. He is being held on $1 million bail.