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New billboards asking for public's help in hit and run death
Crimeline has posted two billboards to help Florida Highway Patrol troopers find the hit and run suspect in the death of Anthony Meijas.
ORLANDO, Fla. - Authorities hope two new billboards will help find the driver in a deadly hit-and-run crash that claimed the life of a 19-year-old man.
Troopers with the Florida Highway Patrol say a small grey or silver passenger vehicle ran over Anthony Mejias on South Orange Avenue by Prince Street at approximately 2:30 a.m. April 2.
"It’s not right for him to be thrown in the street gasping for air," says Vivian Blanco, the teen's mother. "It’s so heart-wrenching to know that somebody has to know."
RELATED: FHP hopes new video will help find hit-and-run driver that killed teen
Investigators say there were no drugs or alcohol in Anthony’s system, the night of the crash.
Family attorney Mark Longwell says Mejias attended college in Tallahassee and was heading home to South Florida to see his family for Easter when he missed a connection at the bus station. Surveillance video shows his last moments at the bus station.
"Something happened in the interim. Because he didn’t have his bag that he left with and he seemed to be inexplicably walking down Orange Avenue in the middle of the night," said Blanco.
"We do believe there’s front damage, undercarriage damage," explains FHP Lt. Kim Montes.
Damage that you may notice to a car parked in your neighbor’s driveway or yard, investigators say.
"Somebody watching this story tonight knows who did it," Montes adds.
Deputies found Meijias and brought him to a nearby hospital. At the time, they were unable to identify him. To make matters worse, when Blanco went to the hospital searching for her son, she says they told her he wasn’t there. It has left the family frustrated and they hope this tragedy can help bring about change.
"That we can perhaps enact a law that makes it easier for missing persons to be connected to ‘John Doe’ individuals who are found," Longwell says.
"My baby boy was tremendous. He was my rock, he was everything to me," a tearful Blanco says during a news conference.
With two new billboards posted by Crimeline, she hopes it will lead investigators to the person responsible for her son's death.
"I urge you to do what’s right and come forward because that will bring forgiveness in your heart and desperately in mine," she adds.
If you have information about the hit-and-run crash, call Crimeline at 800-423-TIPS (8477). There's a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.
Watch FOX 35 News for the latest Central Florida headlines.
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