Crime & Safety

$2K Reward Offered in Fatal Hit-and-Run

The Dec. 21 crash in Bartow County on Interstate 75 at exit 293 killed a Gordon County mother and child, 4.

Authorities are upping the ante in the ongoing search for the driver and vehicle involved in a Bartow County hit-and-run that killed a mother and her child.

Atlanta Crime Stoppers is offering a reward of up to $2,000 in the Dec. 21 crash on Interstate 75 at exit 293, according to a Georgia State Patrol news release. 

They say a tractor-trailer, similar to the vehicle in the attached photo, struck the Calhoun woman's Ford Expedition about 1:25 p.m., causing the crash that killed Maria Tabuena, 29, and her daughter, Melina Trichell, 4.

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The two were traveling in a 1998 Ford Expedition northbound in the right lane when the tractor-trailer changed lanes—from the center lane to the right lane—and struck the Expedition in the left side with the right side of the trailer.

The truck continued northbound while the Expedition ran off the road on the right side, struck a guardrail, hit an overhead sign support post and then became engulfed in flames.

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The details of the the lookout for the truck are:

  • Late 90's "long-nose" Peterbilt tractor,
  • Maroon in color with orange fenders and
  • Pulling a silver trailer with damage to the right side.  

A witness described the trailer as having two red horizontal stripes on the door, and said the trailer was refrigerated; the trailer tag was mounted on the left side of the DOT bar; and the tag may contain the letter "H" and numbers of 1214. The state on the tag is not known.

Troopers and Crime Stoppers are asking anyone with information in the case to contact Crime Stoppers at 404-577-TIPS (8477), online at www.crimestoppersatlanta.org or by texting CSA and the tip to CRIMES (274637).  

Tipsters do not have to give their names or any identifying information to be eligible for the reward of up to $2,000.

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