The Franklin County Sheriff’s Office says this Christmas season, the family of Angela Paetzke, 21, is observing the first anniversary of her death without knowing who killed her in a hit-and-run crash last Christmas Eve.
At a press conference Monday, the sheriff’s office highlighted her death and that of Noe Chavez, 46, who died in an Aug. 26 crash. Officials said they hope witnesses will come forward to bring those families closure this Christmas.
“We know there’s always at least one witness to a hit-and-run,” Sheriff Dallas Baldwin said.
Chief Deputy Jim Gilbert said they hope that, as time has passed, those witnesses in each case have had a change of heart and are ready to come forward.
Angela Paetzke, 21, of Wisconsin was killed in a fatal hit-and-run crash in Jackson Township on Christmas Eve 2023.
Paetzke was struck and killed on Dyer Road, west of State Route 104 in Jackson Township, at about 6:45 p.m. by a silver or light gray Chevrolet Cobalt that sped away from the scene, Gilbert said. She and her boyfriend had stopped to fix a flat tire.
Paetzke was a Wisconsin resident.
The sheriff’s office obtained a blurry photo of the vehicle, but its driver remains unidentified.
Chavez was struck by a car while riding a bicycle on Innis Road and crossing Westerville Road at 12:46 a.m. Aug. 26. Gilbert said a dark sedan with no distinguishing marks likely struck him.
Chavez’s family at the press conference said he was a kind, hardworking man who used his bike to get everywhere.
The Franklin County Sheriff’s Office believes a light gray or silver Chevrolet Cobalt, shown here in blurry surveillance video, struck and killed Angela Paetzke, 21, on Christmas Eve 2024.
“He always tried to bring the mood up,” Chavez’ nephew said. “He was never a bad guy … I don’t think anyone would hate him.”
Speaking through a sheriff’s office interpreter, his sister, Ara Celis, said the holidays have been difficult without him, and aren’t the same.
“She’s pleading to the community to please solve this case and bring peace to the family,” the interpreter said.
Anyone with information on the two crashes can contact the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office Crash Investigation Unit at 614-525-6113 or provide an anonymous tip to Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at 614-461-8477.
bagallion@dispatch.com
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Franklin County Sheriff’s Office highlights unsolved hit-and-run crashes