Family members and police have made an impassioned appeal for information about the driver who hit and killed Lucas Shortreed five years ago.
Shortreed, 18 at the time of his death, was hit and killed while walking home from a party in Alma to his home in Fergus late on Oct. 10, 2008.
No arrests or charges have been made in the case, which remains unsolved despite Wellington County OPP tracking down several leads, as well as a $50,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction.
Shortreed’s mother Judie Moore led the call for more information at a press conference held five years to the day her son was killed and hosted by the OPP a short distance from where he was hit on Wellington Road 17 east of Alma.
“My biggest [concern] is that person (the driver) doesn’t have a conscience,” Moore told the Advertiser after making an emotional statement at the press conference.
“Are they out there driving a vehicle today, so what’s to say it doesn’t happen again?”
Shortreed’s death and the lack of an arrest in the case have left their mark on the family, Moore added. She said family members rarely get together because of a reluctance to have the topic come up at gatherings.
“Five years later I didn’t expect it to be so hard,” she told the Advertiser. “There’s an overwhelming feeling of emptiness; it’s difficult.”
Moore admitted that over time memories of her son are fading, but she stressed he is not forgotten.
“Every year you realize you’re losing a little more of those memories,” she said.
The family still clings to the hope the driver will come forward and confess – or that police will receive information that leads to charges and a conviction to help bring some sense of “closure” for the family.
“We realize Lucas is gone and we’ll never see him again,” Shortreed’s grandfather Gerald Shortreed said at the press conference. “All we ask is for someone to come along and give that lead to bring closure to the family.”
OPP detachment commander Inspector Scott Lawson offered his condolences to the family at the press conference and said the investigation remains active, with a detective assigned to check on all leads.
He released few details about the investigation, but noted police had received information the day before the press conference.
“We feel very strongly there’s people out there who have information,” Lawson said, adding the reward remains in place.
Lawson also appealed to garage mechanics, shop owners and scrap yard owners to come forward with any information they might have on the suspect vehicle, believed to be a white 1995 to 1997 Neon which police said sustained damage to its front, passenger side, windshield or the passenger door.
Police brought out a replica of the vehicle at the press conference and parked nearby was a transport truck bearing the image of Lucas Shortreed and information about the reward and how to contact police.
Gerald Shortreed paid to have the image put on the truck as it travels around the province.
“All we can hope for is that the person who did this to Lucas or someone who knows about it comes forward,” he said.
Family members thanked police for their ongoing investigation and also appealed to the community for help. Anyone with information about the case can call the the OPP at 1-888-310-1122.
