Police identify pedestrian who was struck, killed on Blairs Ferry Road

Police have identified the people involved in Friday's fatal vehicle-pedestrian accident in northeast Cedar Rapids.

Heather Marie (Wrage) Mitchell, 29, of Marion, was killed when she was struck by a vehicle around 4 a.m. in a westbound lane of Blairs Ferry Road NE near Rockwell Drive NE, police said.

Police have still not determined why she was in the middle of the road at such an early hour, and are asking for help from the public.

“If anyone knows where she was earlier in the evening, we need to know,” Sgt. Cristy Hamblin said. “We don't know what led up to this.”

No charges have been filed against the driver, Matthew Beltramea, 33, of Anamosa, who did not stop after he his vehicle hit Mitchell, police said. He returned to the scene after police arrived and spoke to investigators.

“He didn't know what he had hit, so he drove to work,” Hamblin said. “He doesn't work too far from there. He heard the sirens, so he came back.”

Hamblin said Beltramea was cooperative and tests confirmed he was not impaired. She said he likely would have been charged with hit-and-run if he hadn't come back to the scene.

Karen Beltramea, the wife of Matthew Beltramea, said the family's vehicle insurance agent has advised them not to discuss the accident, but she did say her husband was on his way to work.

“He saw absolutely nothing,” she said. “He felt a bump and looked in his (truck's) rear-view mirror and there was nothing there.”

Mitchell grew up in Grundy Center and graduated from Grundy Center High School in 1999. She lived in Marion for the past five years.

According to the Iowa Department of Corrections, Mitchell was released from prison last month after serving time for drug possession-2nd (marijuana) and operating while intoxicated – third offense. She had been sentenced to two years in prison in March 2009.

Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday, June 29, at the United Methodist Church in Grundy Center.