Family Devastated After Mother Of Two Killed In Cheltenham Hit-Run Crash
CHELTENHAM TWP. (CBS) - Michelle Powell's sudden death has devastated her family.
The brutal collision that ended her life combined with the fact that the driver left her behind to die are more than the family can stand.
As police search for a hit and run driver, Eyewitness News heard from the family and a co-worker of a woman killed in Cheltenham Township.
53-year old Michelle Powell was hit on Cheltenham Avenue between Mt Airy Avenue and Easton Road.
Powell, by all accounts, was a loving and devoted wife and mother of two grown children. Her family is now pleading with the public for answers.
Powell's sister, Deborah Wisher, said, "Somebody knows who he is, please turn him in, please turn yourself in, you have to be made accountable because you have destroyed a family."
Powell's family members rushed to the scene Thursday night only to discover the 53-year-old laying lifeless in the middle of Cheltenham Avenue. Police say Powell fell victim to a hit and run driver. Powell had just left work at Walmart at the Cederbrook Shopping Center where she worked as a manager.
On Friday, friends and coworkers set up a roadside memorial where Powell lost her life.
Watch the video...
"I don't know if they caught the person or not but if they didn't, they need to turn themselves in because that affected a lot of people in this building," Tyrese Larke, coworker, said. "The way she had to go, she didn't deserve that at all."
According to eyewitnesses, the driver got away in a '96-'98 Buick Le Sabre, either gray or white in color with a Pennsylvania license plate of J75-840J
"Unfortunately, it's a dealer's tag. They do go from car to car so you may not have it on the same car all the time, so that's an issue for us," Cheltenham Police Chief John Norris explained.
Tracing the tag, no easy task, police say leaving family members more desperate and defiant.
"It'd be something different if she was sick and she left here but you just took her life with no regards and for that I'll never forgive him," Wisher added, ""We are devastated. We want this fool off the street so he can't hurt nobody else's family members."
Eyewitnesses told police the suspect is a Black male, in his 20's with bushy hair, last seen wearing a tan jacket.
Anyone with any additional information is urged to call Cheltenham Township Police at 215-885-1600 ext.0 or Anonymous Tip Line: 215-885-1600 ext. 777
Reported By Elizabeth Hur, CBS 3; Todd Quinones, CBS 3
