Death of Teen Hit on I-380 Ruled a Suicide

By Dave Franzman

(Mark Geary/KCRG-TV9)

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By Aaron Hepker

Story Created: Mar 8, 2010 at 2:13 PM CST

Story Updated: Mar 9, 2010 at 5:10 PM CST

URBANA - Benton County authorities say the state medical examiners office has ruled the death of Denver Parvin, 16, as a suicide.

Parvin jumped out of a stopped car along I-380 near the Urbana exit on Monday afternoon. He then walked along the interstate for 15 minutes, before stepping in front of a moving car.

Investigators determined the driver of the car had no chance to stop when Parvin walked in front of the vehicle.

The Iowa Department of Human Services confirmed it was a DHS worker driving Parvin to a youth shelter in Independence to fulfill a juvenile court order.

"The DHS employee attempted to prevent the tragedy... the accident. And he has provided a detailed sequence of events to law enforcement people who are continuing their investigation. It's obviously a tragedy not only for the victim and his family, but also the DHS employee on the scene," said DHS spokesperson Roger Munns.

Munns would not say how the teen got out of the car on the interstate, but county authorities did fill in those details.

Benton County Chief Deputy Mike Ferguson says Parvin threatened to jump out of the moving DHS employees car, so the worker was forced to pull over. That's when Parvin left the vehicle and started walking.

The worker called authorities for help. But the nearest deputy was north of Vinton and took nearly 15 minutes to make it to the scene.

Chief Deputy Ferguson says that deputy was just pulling up to the scene as Parvin was hit, but the deputy didn't actually see the accident.

Parvin’s father, Dan Parvin, told TV9 that “there is a lot I would like to talk about.” But Parvin declined to say any more at the moment saying he wanted to speak with a lawyer first. Parvin did add there are “things people need to know” (about the accident).

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