Investigators were trying Saturday to solve the hit-and-run death of a Maple Grove woman who might have been crawling on Interstate 35E in St. Paul before she was struck by a passing car.

St. Paul police responded to the scene around 9:40 p.m. Friday night just south of the Grand Avenue overpass. When they arrived, they discovered the body of Emily E. Boone, 28, on the southbound shoulder. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Boone appears to have been alone when she fell to the highway from a 15-foot retaining wall, said Lt. Tiffani Nielson, State Patrol spokeswoman, and she may have been crawling when she was hit. "We don't know why she was in that area at that time," Nielson said, or whether her drop to the roadway was intentional.

Police are asking for help from the public, as the car that hit her may have damage to the driver's side and undercarriage. The driver might not have known that a person had been struck. "We're asking that if you were in that area at that time to provide us with any information at all," Nielson said.

Traffic was jammed by the incident, and made worse as a Wild game finished at the nearby Xcel Energy Center.