The Washington State Patrol is renewing its effort to track down a white Sprinter van that was involved in a deadly hit-and-run last September, in a case that remains unsolved months later. Troopers have shared a distinctive detail about the vehicle in the hope that it will jog someone's memory and finally point them to the driver who fled.
According to investigators, the van struck a motorcyclist on State Route 509 near the Myers Way exit in Seattle, an area close to White Center. The crash happened on September 13, a little before midnight, on a stretch of roadway where the rider had little chance to avoid the collision.
The motorcyclist, Benjamin McIntyre, was killed. Rather than stopping to render aid or wait for authorities, the driver of the van kept going, leaving troopers to reconstruct what happened from the evidence at the scene and from the search for the vehicle itself.
Investigators have focused on what they describe as a distinctive window pattern on the van. They say it has two windows on the driver's side and three on the passenger side, an unusual configuration that sets it apart from many similar work vans on the road.
That kind of specific identifier is the sort of detail that can prove decisive in a hit-and-run. A mechanic, a neighbor, a coworker or a passerby who has seen a white Sprinter van matching that window layout could be the link that helps troopers connect the vehicle to its owner.
The Washington State Patrol is asking anyone with information about the van or the driver to come forward. Even small details, such as where the van has been seen or who may have access to it, could help move the long-running investigation toward an arrest.
More than nine months after the deadly crash, the case underscores how difficult hit-and-run investigations can be when a driver disappears into traffic. By putting the van's distinctive features back in front of the public, troopers are hoping that renewed attention will finally bring answers for the family of the man who was killed.