DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Police in Des Moines have finally identified a pedestrian killed in a hit-and-run last November as a Des Moines resident whom neighbors reported they had not seen in weeks.
Police had struggled to identify the man, who was not carrying ID when he was found critically injured in the street the night of Nov. 26. Police said he had been hit by a vehicle that fled the scene. The man later died from his injuries at a hospital, and a 22-year-old man suspected of being the hit-and-run driver was later arrested and charged in the case.
On Wednesday, police said in a news release that they had identified the victim as Jeffrey James Larson, 68, of Des Moines.
Police said officers were sent Saturday to check on the welfare of a man after neighbors reported he had not been seen in weeks and that his mail was piling up at his house. Police were able to obtain a name and a photo of the home’s resident and immediately recognized the photo as the victim portrayed in an artist’s sketch created in December.
Further investigation confirmed Larson’s identity as that of the hit-and-run victim.
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