Apparent hit-and-run death investigated in Tulalip

Published 5:35 pm Wednesday, April 2, 2008

TULALIP — Police continue to search for an apparent hit-and-run driver who struck and killed a Marysville woman early this morning.

Snohomish County sheriff’s detectives didn’t have any information about the vehicle involved in the death. They spent several hours at the scene, collecting evidence and taking measurements along the road.

Detectives recovered a gas can at the scene. They also hauled off a motorcycle that was parked on the west side of 34th Avenue NE, south of the scene. It’s unclear if the motorcycle is connected to the incident, Snohomish County sheriff’s spokeswoman Rebecca Hover said.

Investigators are asking for the public’s help to locate the driver or in providing details about the hit-and-run accident.

The woman, 56, was discovered about 6:40 a.m. by a man driving south on I-5, Hover said. The woman was lying in a grassy area near a barbed wire fence between 34th Avenue NE and the freeway.

The woman died at the scene, Hover said.

Detectives believe the woman was walking north on 34th Avenue NE near the east shoulder of the road, her back to traffic, when she was struck, Hover said. The hit-and-run occurred just south of Suburban Propane.

The road parallels the freeway. There are no sidewalks. The speed limit is 50 mph along that stretch.

Investigators didn’t know why the woman was walking along the road at that time of the morning. They believe the accident happened sometime between 4:45 a.m. and 6:40 a.m.

It may have been dark at the time of the hit-and-run . Sunrise was at 6:44 a.m., according to the National Weather Service.

The Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s Office had not release the woman’s name as of Wednesday. The medical examiner is expected to determine how the woman died.

Anyone with information is asked to call the sheriff’s tip line at 425-388-3845.