Image Credit: CFJC Today
HIT & RUN SUSPECT IDENTIFIED

File closed on fatal 2018 hit and run

May 3, 2019 | 10:43 AM

KAMLOOPS — The file around a fatal hit and run in October of 2018 has now been closed, after it was learned the 75-year-old suspect identified by Kamloops RCMP had already passed away.

Around 1:30 in the morning on October 20th, 2018, a 48-year-old man was struck and killed along Seymour Street West, and the vehicle did not stay at the scene.

In a release today, Cpl. Jodi Shelkie says after a joint investigation by the General Investigation Support Team, Serious Crime Unit and Traffic Services, a suspect vehicle was identified and seized in November of 2018.

Evidence from the vehicle was sent for forensic testing, and through DNA, it was found to be linked to the hit and run incident.

Police believe through evidence that the registered owner of the vehicle, a 75-year-old man from Kamloops, was the driver at the time of a collision.

However, it was learned that the man had passed away recently, and as such, this file will be concluded.

“This file is an example of the depth of an investigation that police engage in,” stated Cpl. Jodi Shelkie. “Fragmented pieces of the suspect vehicle at the scene and surveillance video from different locations helped identify the model of the suspect vehicle and eliminate makes of other vehicles in the area. Once the vehicle’s make and model was known, a police officer on patrol saw the vehicle. From there, a search warrant was obtained to seize the vehicle and have it forensically analyzed to positively place it at the scene of the hit and run. All of these investigation steps take time and expertise to come to a successful conclusion.”