IDENTITY RELEASED: 11-year-old girl who was pronounced dead after falling under moving school bus

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KKCO) - UPDATE (March 4 at 9:30 a.m.): The Garfield County Coroner’s Office has released the identity and a photo of the 11-year-old girl who died after falling under the wheels of a moving school bus Thursday morning.

According to the coroner’s office, 11-year-old Annaliese Backner, who went by Anna, was the 11-year-old girl who was the victim of a tragic accident.

On Thursday, March 3 at 7:30 a.m., the Garfield County Coroner’s Office was dispatched to a neighborhood in Parachute, Colo. for a report of a child who died after tripping and falling underneath a moving school bus.

Anna was a resident of Parachute and attended Grand Valley Middle School as a sixth grader. According to the coroner’s office, Anna’s parents requested the photo of their daughter be released and viewed by the public.

The coroner’s office reports an autopsy with a contract forensic pathologist is scheduled for Friday afternoon. Final cause and manner of death will not be released until the final autopsy report is published.

The initial investigated cause of death is blunt force injuries and the initial investigated manner of death is an accident. Final cause and manner of death to be published in the following weeks.

UPDATE (March 3 at 5:10 p.m.): Garfield County School District No. 16 has issued a statement regarding the 11-year-old female who died after falling under the wheels of a moving school bus.

Their statement reads:

INITIAL ARTICLE: An 11-year-old female student was pronounced dead after falling under the wheels of a moving school bus, according to police.

According to the Town of Parachute Police Department, on Thursday, March 3 at 7:30 a.m., an 11-year-old female tripped as she was running to catch her school bus. When she fell, she went under the wheels of the moving school bus.

Parachute Police and Grand Valley Fire were immediately called to scene, as well as Garfield County Sheriff’s deputies who arrived to assist. Unfortunately, the child was pronounced dead at the scene.

The family has been informed, and Garfield County Victim Advocates and The Aspen Hope Center support services are in place to help them through this difficult time.

Colorado State Patrol Vehicular Crimes Unit has been turned over the investigation.

This is an active investigation and this article will be updated if more information is released.

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