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Sandra Yi ReportingPolice are looking for a driver who hit and killed a pedestrian and never stopped. Another woman driving by found the victim Wednesday afternoon in a Holladay neighborhood. The pedestrian died on the way to the hospital.
Ryan Collins says, "It's terrible, it's terrible. It makes me sick to think the poor lady is dead, and these people don't have the decency to stop and do something about it."
Police hope someone saw something that could help them solve the case. The woman who was killed is 64-year-old Patricia Rothermich of Holladay. When deputies first got to her, they didn't know what had happened. But they say the evidence on the road points to a hit-and-run.
Lt. Paul Jaroscak said, "It was somebody that came along and saw her, and she was actually on the shoulder of the road, partially in the bushes, so she could have been there a little while."
Investigators found evidence at the scene, clues to this mystery, including paint marks that indicate the car that hit the woman may have been white. Two men working nearby heard what may have been the impact.
Brian Maxwell says, "We heard what sounded like a large truck. I think everybody's heard a truck when it hits a bump in the road; when it's not weighted down, it rattles."
Collins said, "It was loud enough to stun us."
Maxwell adds, "And it just sounded like it was too much noise and moving too fast on this little neighborhood road."
Investigators say the woman, Patricia Rotermich, lived in the neighborhood. They believe she was hit from behind as she walked on the east side of the road.
Lt. Jaroscak said, "And so for a person to hit her from behind, they would have to have been on the wrong side of the road. Your guess is as good as mine as to what that person was doing on the wrong side of the road."
Investigators say the driver should have seen Rothermich.
"The sun is in such a position that it wouldn't be in the driver's eyes, so it would be hard to say the sun caused them to not see this person," Lt. Jaroscak said.
People who heard the crash say the vehicle may have been speeding. They say that's no reason to run.
Maxwell said, "It's sickening, it's sickening. It seems like somebody would have to have known something bad happened, and that nobody got out of their vehicle to see what was going on. It's savage."
Investigators say, based on evidence, the vehicle may have been white, possibly a construction or landscaping vehicle.
If you have any information, call the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office.
