CINCINNATI — On June 27, in the early hours of the morning, 23-year-old Megan Smith walked along I-75 SB just south of the Norwood Lateral, when she was hit and killed by a passing driver, who never stopped. Megan had just celebrated her 23rd birthday hours before, on June 26.
She left her apartment that night after a fight with her boyfriend, who police said was not involved in the crash. She'd just moved to Cincinnati, from Tennessee, 19 days before she was killed.
Two weeks later, police and her family are still searching for any information.
"This child laid on that asphalt for who knows how long," said Bobby Smith, Megan's father. "OK? It's our child."
St. Bernard Police said they arrived at the crash scene around 3:47 a.m., but Megan was already dead when they got there. The following investigation shut down the highway for hours that morning.
"The night before she left to head north to Cincinnati from Tennessee, we really went to the lake and spent the whole day together," said Bobby. "How do you top that?"
Police are still working to track down the driver involved, but Keith Ingram, the detective investigating the case, said finding that car and driver will be like finding a needle in a haystack.
"It's going to be tough," he said. "My heart breaks for that family."
Cincinnati Police are in the process of helping St. Bernard officials to improve the quality of traffic camera footage in the area the night Megan was killed. Currently, the footage is grainy and the infrared mode the cameras switch to after dark means the video is also in black and white.
Police have also spoken to one witness who has come forward, though he only saw the aftermath of the crash, not the driver who killed Megan. Police are working to get footage back from CPD before interviewing him further so they have the video as reference.
Ingram said police are hoping any witnesses who saw the actual crash will come forward and give them more information about what happened that night. They're specifically interested in determining the logo on a white semi truck that was in the area of the crash that night, he said.
"If you saw anything, please come forward," said Tammy Smith, Megan's step-mother. "Imagine this being somebody that you lost and you loved."
