An Ashland-area woman died early Friday near Busby after being hit by a van that left the scene. Law enforcement officers located the van on the Crow Reservation.

Montana Highway Patrol Trooper Rick Starks said the 22-year-old woman, whose name has not yet been released, was in the middle of Highway 212 at 3:30 a.m. near Busby when she was hit by a van.

Rosebud County Sheriff's Sgt. Allen Fulton, who is the deputy coroner, said an autopsy will be performed in Billings on Friday.

An ambulance crew returning to Lame Deer from Billings saw the accident and initially thought the van had hit a deer, Starks said. When the crew stopped to check, they found the woman and took her to Lame Deer, where she was pronounced dead. The victim was a member of the Northern Cheyenne tribe and appeared to have been intoxicated, he said.

Law enforcement officers with the FBI and Bureau of Indian Affairs located the van, which had stopped at a gas station near the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, Starks said. The van's driver and his four passengers were all from California and apparently were heading back to California. Alcohol did not appear to be a factor with the driver, Starks said.

The driver will be ticketed for leaving the scene of a fatal accident, driving without a license, not having insurance and having a suspended registration, the trooper said. The driver's name was not immediately available.