Accident near Worley takes life of Olivia Pakootas

Olivia Pakootas, a member of the 2015 class at Tekoa High School, was fatally injured Friday afternoon in a one-car accident on Idaho Highway 58 near Worley. Pakootas, 21, was a top basketball player and track athlete for Tekoa when they competed in sports in combination with Oakesdale and Rosalia.

According to the Idaho State Police report, Pakootas, who resided at Plummer, was driving westbound on Highway 58 and failed to negotiate a curve at the three-tenths of a mile mark. She struck the guardrail along the highway and the car went off the roadway. Pakootas was not wearing a seatbelt and was thrown from the vehicle.

Coeur d’Alene Tribal Police and the Worley Fire Department assisted in the accident investigation.

During her school years, she commuted from Plummer to attend high school at Tekoa and compete in sports with the Tekoa athletes. She won the state 2B high jump championship for Tekoa/Rosalia in her senior year.

The was on the Tekoa/Oakesdale team which played Colton in the state 1B championship game in her junior year.

The Coeur d’Alene Tribe Monday announced they have filed a temporary restraining order to stop an autopsy of Pakootas.

The tribe has asked the Kootenai County Coroner to return the body to the tribe without conducting the autopsy. The report cited the tribe’s sovereign right to bury their people in line with tribal beliefs and religious and cultural values.

Tribe Chairman Ernie Stensgar said the family is going through enough with the death of their loved one.

“We demand the county cease and desist and return Olivia to her family immediately,” he said.