ORLANDO, Fla. – Tuesday evening, Florida Highway Patrol troopers got an anonymous tip through Crimeline telling them the whereabouts of a car they'd spent a week and a half trying to locate.
Troopers checked out the tip and confirmed it was valid. They said it led them to the silver Nissan that hit and killed 58-year-old Margarita Contreras of Boca Raton the morning of Oct. 1.
Contreras had pulled over on the side of Orange Blossom Trail near Osceola Parkway in Osceola County after she was involved in an accident. Troopers said Contreras walked back out into the roadway to find her wallet and was struck. She died at the hospital.
The driver never stopped.
Wednesday afternoon, troopers showed News 6 exclusively the car they believe struck Contreras. The windshield was smashed on the passenger's side, the hood was dented and the bumper was broken.
"This is a typical impact for a pedestrian strike," FHP Sgt. Kim Montes said.
Montes said traffic homicide investigators believe Contreras was hit by the bumper, knocked up onto the hood, bounced off the windshield and thrown into the street.
But THI had nothing -- no witnesses, no video and no tips -- until the Crimeline tip came in.
"All the evidence at the scene did not point toward a specific vehicle," Montes said. "That one tip called in anonymously to Crimeline is what brought us to this vehicle."
Montes said more and more people are stepping up when hit-and-run drivers don't.
"People are getting involved, people are saying 'enough' whether it's following a vehicle or calling in an anonymous tip," Montes said. "This is the best way if you don't want to be fully involved, call in the information, even if you think it's small and insignificant."
Contreras' death was the second that weekend caused by a hit-and-run driver.
Another woman, a 31-year-old from Michigan, was killed in a crosswalk in front of a hotel on Universal Boulevard.
That driver also left the scene.
Troopers said a hotel security guard saw the crash and followed the driver. Eventually, the driver pulled into another hotel and the guard warned him to return to the scene after copying down his license plate.
Troopers arrested Yashpaul Boodram and charged him with leaving the scene of an accident with a death.
"Had that driver, that security guard that witnessed that crash, not followed the hit-and-run driver and not convinced him to come back to the scene, we never would have been able to make an arrest as quickly as we did," Montes said. "We may have eventually found the vehicle, but because that driver followed the hit-and-run driver, got him to come back to the scene, we were able to make an arrest, he was able to help us get crime results."
Leaving the scene of a deadly crash carries a minimum four-year prison sentence and a maximum of 30 years in prison.
In Contreras' case, Montes said investigators have made contact with the driver and believe he is a person of interest. She said an arrest is forthcoming.
"I think people need to realize law enforcement will work very hard to try and locate these hit-and-run vehicles and suspects and drivers, but sometimes we're not able to do it," Montes said. "And that's where the public can get results. Help us find these vehicles that have committed a crime, help these families have answers where they have no answers why their loved one was left to die."