Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Mystery Solved

Last year, there was a hit and run just about a block and a half from my home, at this intersection. Rachel Gilliam, a popular 25-year-old bartender was struck and killed by a car that ran a stop sign at the intersection at 3:40 am, November 1, Halloween night. I alluded to it in a post on my old blog earlier this year. I found it horribly tragic that a person so young and full of promise died, but it shook me up personally-- I walk, ride my bike and drive through that intersection easily a dozen times a week. It's about 150 feet from where I work; it could easily have been me that was hit.

There were witnesses, but they were only able to say that a silver Acura hit her. There seemed to be little hope of bringing the culprit to justice. Undoubtedly, whoever did it had been drinking, given the date and the hour. The family hired a private investigator and offered a reward, blanketing the neighborhood with posters.

It turned out, though, that the security camera of a jewelry store a couple blocks down caught the incident. The camera couldn't show the license plate, but it did show that there were three people in the car. The police got a tip about a silver Acura with damage consistent with the incident. The police were soon in possession of the car and were able to question the two passengers, who co-owned the car with the culprit.

It turned out that the perpetrator, Carlos Castillo was also young-- 23 years old. He had no driver's license and a long rap sheet. It's suspected that he's left the country.

As someone who has dealt with the violent death of someone close to me, I know that knowing who was responsible provides some closure. The ultimate closure will be when he's caught. Guys like him are usually none too smart. I'm confident justice will be served eventually.

6 comments:

mi said...

so very sad.

i hope he is caught. and although it doesn't lessen the pain, i agree it probably does bring some closure.

SkylersDad said...

I sure hope he is caught and brought back.

Erik Donald France said...

Sad story but yes, good for the survivors to know what happened, and who did it.

Churlita said...

That sucks. I hope that guy gets thrown in jail wherever he is, so he doesn't do anything like that again.

Barbara Bruederlin said...

What a tragedy, and such a senseless and unnecessary way to die. Hope they catch the coward.

Pat Tillett said...

I'm glad the caught the a-hole. I read about this tragedy in the news.