South Dakota’s attorney general reported hitting a deer with his car. He did hit and kill the man.

South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg said he hit a deer with his car Saturday night but actually killed a pedestrian whose body was not found until the next day, state investigators said Monday. Ravnsborg’s office said he immediately called 911 after an accident on a rural stretch of US Highway 14 and did not realize he had hit the man until the body was found.

On Monday, the Public Safety Department released a statement stating only that Ravnsborg told the Hyde County Sheriff that he hit a deer with his 2011 Ford Taurus. The agency did not say whether he reported the disaster by calling 911.

The man, who was identified as 55-year-old Joseph Bover, was found only on Sunday morning. According to relatives, he had previously crashed his truck in the area and was apparently walking along the road towards him.

Republican Gov. Christy Noem said on Sunday that Ravnsborg was in a fatal accident and said the Public Safety Department was investigating, but neither she nor the agency provided any details about what happened.

“I am shocked and saddened by the events of last night,” Ravnsborg said in a statement late Sunday. “As Governor Noem said, I fully cooperate with the investigation and I fully intend to continue to move forward. This time, I express my deepest condolences and condolences to the family. “

The Public Security Department says its investigation is ongoing.

Spokesman Tim Borman said Ravnsborg drove from the Republican fundraiser in Redfield to his home located about 110 miles outside Pierre. Ravnsborg was unharmed.

It took investigators nearly 22 hours to identify Bover’s body with a family member, according to cousin Nick Nemek, leaving relatives disappointed and suspicious.

Earlier on Saturday night, Bover crashed into a bale of hay near the road, Nemec reported. Nemeka’s brother, Victor, drove him back to the house, which was about 1.5 miles from the house, and planned to make the renovation on Sunday.

Victor Nemets reported by the CBS KELO-TV branch that he wondered if the emergency call was there because no sirens were heard from Highmore on Saturday night. The Germans said law enforcement and emergency vehicles were at the scene for several hours on Sunday.

“My biggest fear is that they are trying to gather everyone in order to free the attorney general from any wrongdoing,” said Nick Nemec.

According to Nemek, Bover lived alone and was separated from his wife.

When Bover’s cousins ​​saw an investigation into the incident near where Bover had left his truck on Sunday, they feared his involvement. They called 911 and the Highway Patrol but were told to wait for a response from the authorities. His body was identified after 8 pm on Sunday.

“I don’t know if Joe’s cousin was lying on the highway for 22 hours, or if they arrested him before that,” Nemec said.

Ravnsborg attended a fundraising dinner hosted by Spink County Republicans at Rooster’s Bar & Grill. The attorney general is known to frequent a fundraiser known as “Lincoln Afternoon Dinners,” held by county Republican groups across the state.

Bormann said the attorney general drinks occasionally, but has made it a rule not to drink at Lincoln Day events.

State Senator Brock Greenfield, who also attended the dinner, said, “I haven’t seen him with anything but cola.”

Ravnsborg has received six speeding tickets in South Dakota in the past six years. He also received fines for violating the seat belt and for driving without a proper exhaust system and muffler.

KELO informs that most recently Ravnsborg was cited twice for speeding in 2018 – once for 40 mph in the 35 mph zone in Beadle County and once for up to 80 mph in the 65 mph zone in Pennington County … The station reports that he also paid for two speeding tickets in Iowa in 1996 and 2003.