Updated on July 20, 2026.
A teen died on Thursday evening after sustaining serious injuries in a collision between her electric bike and a minivan earlier in the day, the Burlington Police Department announced on Friday afternoon.
Shiloh Skalka, 16, was riding an e-bike southbound on Pine Street shortly after 1 p.m. Thursday when she was struck near the intersection of Locust Street by a 2018 Dodge Caravan that was traveling in the same direction. The vehicle was driven by 79-year-old Douglas Knapp, a well-known local artist. Skalka, who was wearing a bike helmet, was transported to the University of Vermont Medical Center and later succumbed to her injuries.
Skalka was a rising junior at Burlington High School, according to a message sent to Burlington families late Friday afternoon from superintendent Tom Flanagan.
“Our hearts are with Shiloh’s family, especially her twin brother, Kaz, as well as her friends, classmates, teachers, and everyone whose life she touched,” Flanagan wrote.
He called Skalka “a valued member of the Burlington High School community” who “was also well known throughout our district, having attended Edmunds Elementary and Edmunds Middle School. “
Skalka’s family have asked for privacy as they grieve, Flanagan wrote. He said the Edmunds Elementary School gym would be open on Wednesday, July 22, from 9 a.m. to noon to give community members a chance to gather — with counselors, administrators and staff on hand to offer support.
By Monday morning, a memorial at the scene of the crash had grown to include flowers, photos of Shiloh and messages written to her.
Brooke McKeen, 25, of Burlington, had picked some flowers by the Barge Canal and came to lay them on the growing pile. She hadn’t known Shiloh but was moved by her death.
“I’m holding her and her family in my heart, and everyone who knew her,” McKeen said.
Nora Slish, 16, who was also at the memorial, said she had known Shiloh since they were 3 years old. Their parents were friends and “introduced us,” Nora said. Shiloh was incredibly smart, a great artist and loving friend who “laughed with her whole body,” Nora recalled through tears. The young woman worked at Starbucks and had recently begun to play polo. Shiloh was a twin, “but she was older,” Nora said with a grin. She was a rule follower who was cautious with friends in the car after she got her driver’s license. Friends called her “Shi Shi,” and “she really loved cats,” Nora said. “She was really good with them.”
Nora and Shiloh had spent recent summer weeks hanging out, swimming, hiking, boating and tubing. Shiloh had texted Nora just 20 minutes before Friday’s crash.
At the memorial is a photo Nora had taken of her friend earlier this month from the top of Mount Philo, where they were camping and watching the sunset. Shiloh is looking at the camera, smiling, the reddish glow of the setting sun lighting her face, her long brown hair hanging above the trees below.
“I want people to know she was loved,” Nora said.
Knapp, the driver, is better known as Dug Nap, a Vermont folk artist who sells his work on Pine Street and at local shops. Reached by phone on Friday evening, Knapp said he wasn’t ready to talk about what happened.
“I’m still kind of gathering my thoughts,” he said. “I’m upset. I have to let things go how they’re going to go.”
Jack Mandeville Evans, a program specialist for cycling advocacy group Local Motion, said members of the cycling community are already talking about how to honor Skalka.
“I know that these types of crashes are felt very viscerally by people who bike, because it shows how easily a life can be taken away when we share the road with cars,” he said.
The crash is currently under investigation. The police department asks that witnesses contact Detective Padric Hartnett at 802-540-2351.
Colin Flanders contributed reporting.
Got something to say?
Send a letter to the editor and we'll publish your feedback in print!
