LOCHBUIE, Colo. - Authorities in Weld County are investigating a fatal hit and run accident that claimed the life of a 28-year-old woman.
Janelle DeVisser was walking home along Weld County Road 8 near Lochbuie Tuesday evening when she was struck by a driver who fled the scene.
DeVisser's body wasn't found until Wednesday morning when a school bus driver spotted her.
"She would walk every night it seems like. Everyone around here knows her," James McFarland, a family friend, told FOX 31. "She would walk down to the Lochbuie store."
Neighbors say they saw the Heritage High School graduate headed home around 8 p.m. Tuesday, but she never arrived.
The Colorado State Patrol says Janelle was struck from behind and thrown about 30 feet from the dark, two-lane highway.
"It's evident the deceased was wearing dark clothing," CSP Sgt. Dana Reynolds said. "If [the accident] occurred after dark it would be difficult to discern her on the side of the roadway."
DeVisser's father, Phillip DeVisser, said he eldest daughter lived a difficult life. She was a single mother of an 11-year-old and lived at her parents' home, with him. She used art to express herself. A self-portrait shows her bleeding from a thorned rose.
"I want to say that I'm glad you are in heaven now Janelle," DeVisser told us. "You won't feel any more pain, no more sorrow."
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Janelle DeVisser was walking home along Weld County Road 8 near Lochbuie Tuesday evening when she was struck by a driver who fled the scene.
DeVisser's body wasn't found until Wednesday morning when a school bus driver spotted her.
"She would walk every night it seems like. Everyone around here knows her," James McFarland, a family friend, told FOX 31. "She would walk down to the Lochbuie store."
Neighbors say they saw the Heritage High School graduate headed home around 8 p.m. Tuesday, but she never arrived.
The Colorado State Patrol says Janelle was struck from behind and thrown about 30 feet from the dark, two-lane highway.
"It's evident the deceased was wearing dark clothing," CSP Sgt. Dana Reynolds said. "If [the accident] occurred after dark it would be difficult to discern her on the side of the roadway."
DeVisser's father, Phillip DeVisser, said he eldest daughter lived a difficult life. She was a single mother of an 11-year-old and lived at her parents' home, with him. She used art to express herself. A self-portrait shows her bleeding from a thorned rose.
"I want to say that I'm glad you are in heaven now Janelle," DeVisser told us. "You won't feel any more pain, no more sorrow."
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