As a member of the volunteer fire department in the tiny northwestern Minnesota town of Ada, Randy Peterson has a routine when his pager goes off. He checks to see if his kids are at home.
At 10 p.m. Sunday, when he was called to a two-vehicle crash with one car on fire in the neighboring town of Borup, Peterson had a sinking feeling. He knew his 16-year-old son, Carter, was not home. Carter had dropped off his girlfriend in Hawley earlier that night and was headed home on Hwy. 9 when he was broadsided by a driver who allegedly ran a stop sign at the intersection of Hwy. 9 and County Road 39. The impact sent the teen’s Dodge Avenger into the ditch, where it rolled over and caught fire.