MECHANICSBURG, Pa. — Twenty-four years ago, 30-year-old Rusty Aurand was struck and killed while crossing a Mechanicsburg road.
Nearly two and a half decades later, the driver who hit him remains unknown.
Mechanicsburg Police Department Chief of Police Margret Myers has been with the department since 1984. She was working as a patrol officer on Oct. 31, 1999, the night Rusty died.
"We had been dispatched to a hit and run," she recalled. "We were given the direction that the vehicle was going. We looked for a little while and then came back to secure the scene."
Rusty was struck along the 100 block of West Main Street in Mechanicsburg Borough at approximately 10 p.m. Officers were searching for a dark, possibly reddish to maroon car with retractable (flip-up type) headlights, according to Pennsylvania Crime Stoppers.
"We had an actual witness going in the opposite direction [of] the fleeing vehicle," said Myers. "There were two people in that car, we talked to them."
Police took written statements from the witness, but Rusty's girlfriend helped provide some insight into Rusty's last moments.
"[The] person that drove him home that night, she helped him out of the car [and] went across the street. She could see, when she looked back, that Rusty was lying in the roadway. He died before the ambulance arrived on the scene."
According to police, Rusty and his girlfriend had been at the nearby neighborhood bar Grandpa's Growler and were heading home to his apartment. The couple pulled up and parked the car across the street from Rusty's place.
Rusty's girlfriend crossed the street. He stopped for a moment and then stumbled and fell into the roadway.
"Rusty was intoxicated, there was no question about it, apparently heavily intoxicated," Myers told FOX43. "[His girlfriend] had been drinking, but she saw it happen. I'm sure that sobered her up fast."
The filed police report states that marks on the street and one of Rusty's shoes lying west of his body indicated Rusty had been either thrown or drug to his final resting spot. There were no visible skid marks on the road, indicating the driver did not slow down before or after striking Rusty.
"We're not sure why the driver didn't come forward to begin with," Myers continued. "They may have not seen him. The only thing we could think of is that they had the car illegally and didn't want to stop."
Police combed the area for the vehicle, based on the description provided by the two witnesses and Rusty's girlfriend but couldn't find anything matching the vehicle. Back at the scene, officers, including Myers, were door-knocking houses with their lights on for additional witnesses.
"The people [at a nearby house] had their window open and they told me that they heard the sound of a hubcap rolling. We found the hubcap right where they said it was and it did appear to me that the hubcap came off of the striking vehicle," Myers told FOX43.
It was a Chrysler hubcap, but officers had a difficult time narrowing it down to a certain car. However, one witness noted that the striking vehicle had pop-up headlights.
"Out of all the vehicles, the one that had pop-up headlights, that was closest to the description, was a Dodge Daytona," recalled Myers.
It was a lead investigators felt they could work with, at least narrowing down the list of potential vehicles involved. However, it didn't prove as helpful as it seemed on paper.
"We went looking for Dodge Daytonas with not a lot of success," said Myers. "We went to body shops, we went to any place that might have had a car turned in for junk, [where] people could take off what was needed on a car, we went to those junkyards. Nothing, we never found the car."
Twenty-four years later, leads are scarce. Myers said tips came in following the hit-and-run, but over two decades later, they've dried up. She promises any tips given will be investigated, no matter how small they may seem.
"I'm certain there are people out there that know what happened. We need consciousness, we need the driver of the car to [confess]."
Rusty's case is the only "cold" case in Mechanicsburg. It's a case that haunts Myers.
"[It] bothers me because it's one of those that [I was] on," she said. "I know that somebody has information. We just don't have the right person yet. [But] as long as I'm here, we'll work on [Rusty's case]."
However, with all cold cases, the element of time is usually not in the victim's favor.
"I think the most difficult thing now is going to be the amount of time that passed," said Myers. "Anything that can move this case back to the forefront would be great."
Anyone with information has been urged to contact Pennsylvania Crime Stoppers Toll-Free at 1-800-4PA-TIPS (8477) or submit a tip online here. Tipsters may remain anonymous.