INDIAN RIVER COUNTY, Fla. — A Delaware woman is dead following a hit-and-run crash Tuesday night in Indian River County, authorities said.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, a 47-year-old woman from Wilmington, Delaware, along with a 52-year-old Vero Beach man, were walking north across State Road 656 (17th Street), just east of Vero Beach, just after 9 p.m.
That's when a maroon Ford Edge SUV traveling east slammed into them.
The driver of the vehicle got out of his car, walked up to the victims, then got back in his SUV and took off.
"Oh my gosh," said Cindy Sawyer, who lives down the street. "We did see helicopters last night. And to be in this area, I imagine [the driver] lives around here."
"I mean, they obviously knew it was bad," added a resident across the street from the accident. "Why didn't they stop to do something or help in any kind of way?
Very callous."
The woman was taken to HCA Florida Lawnwood Hospital, where she died from her injuries. The Vero Beach man suffered non-incapacitating injuries, FHP Lt. Indiana Miranda said.
Dash camera video from a witness revealed the driver of the Ford Edge was a white man, around 50 to 60 years old, balding and wearing a yellow shirt and blue jeans.
The vehicle involved in the crash was later located at a residence in Vero Beach, Miranda said Wednesday afternoon.
Sgt. Kevin Jawarski with the Indian River County Sheriff's Office said a little after 11 a.m. Wednesday, a resident reported seeing a vehicle matching the exact description of the car suspected of being involved in the hit-and-run.
Jawarski said deputies researched the tag and then responded to the residence, where they found the car, secured the scene and continued to investigate.
People in the area reported hearing lots of sirens and seeing several patrol cars in the area Tuesday evening.
"There was a lot of sirens last night, and I heard this morning on the news that there was a hit and run," Robert Tarrant, who rides his bike down that street, said.
"When I was coming home around 10:35 or so, [officers] had the road blocked off up, and I could see four or five cop cars all around," added a resident across the street from the accident.
The FHP said they are working with the State Attorney's Office for a prosecution in the case.
