Former softball star shot and killed while driving down highway

Police are on the hunt for a suspect who shot and killed a former University of Northern Iowa softball player as she was driving down a highway.

Micalla Rettinger, 25, was shot as she was driving south on U.S. Highway 218 from Cedar Falls to Waterloo just before 2:30 a.m. on Sunday, according to the Des Moines Register. She had just picked up her boyfriend, Adam Kimball, from his job at a Cedar Falls bar, her father Steven Rettinger said.

"[The world] lost a good-hearted person, who was a good citizen, and they probably lost a person who would have become a damn good dentist," Rettinger told the paper. "She was very committed to [becoming a dentist]. At the same time, she found time for her friends and family and making the world a better place."

The Waterloo Police Department, which is offering a $14,000 reward for any information on the case, said a single bullet entered the woman's vehicle and struck two of three occupants inside. Micalla died on the scene, while her boyfriend was taken to a hospital for further treatment but is expected to survive.

"It seems so out of the ordinary and so random and senseless that I can't even get my mind around it," Rettinger said of his daughter's death.

Micalla, a Kansan native, was an all-state softball player for Park Hill High School. She started all four years at Northern Iowa and graduated with a degree in biology in 2016.

"We are devastated to learn of the senseless death of Micalla Rettinger," David Harris, Director of Athletics at the university, said in a statement. "This news is heartbreaking to our softball team, UNI Athletics and the entire campus. Our thoughts and prayers are with Micalla's family and friends."

Police said anybody who may have been shooting or hunting in the area of the Cedar River between the U.S. 218 bridge and the Conger Avenue bridge should call (319) 291-4340.