Breakthrough tip leads police closer to solving hit-and-run death of Fairfax Co. mom
Auto website gives Fairfax police new lead in fatal hit-and-run crash
FOX 5's David Kaplan is following up on a deadly hit-and-run in Fairfax County. We first told you about the death of 63-year-old Mary Wong in late January. Thanks to some online expertise, Fairfax County police now have what they say is a huge break in this case.
It's been nearly four months since Fu-Tzu "Mary" Wong's body was left lying in the road after she was struck during a hit-and-run crash in Fairfax County.
Wong, 63, succumbed to her injuries on Jan. 29, and her family has been pleading with the public to come forward with any information that will help police solve this case.
The hit-and-run happened at the end of December. Wong was walking home from work in the crosswalk at the intersection of Huntsman and Bridle Wood Boulevards when she was struck.
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At the time of the collision, detectives with the Fairfax County Police Department weren’t able to determine what the striking vehicle was. They were asking for help finding a car with front-end damage.
Officers did find a few fragments of a headlight and put out a call asking for help. Recently, they got an answer from experts at a car-centric website called Autopian.
After some investigating, the company told the department that they thought, based on those tiny fragments of a headlight, that the striking car was a Dodge Avenger – made between 2008 and 2014.
Fairfax police corroborated the tip and told FOX 5 that it’s been a crucial development in the investigation.
"It’s something that seemed like almost a shot in the dark that we would maybe get some sort of tips, and even myself, when I looked at the picture and I saw that, I was blown away," Captain James Curry said. "It seems almost an exact match for the type of vehicle that we’re looking for. And I can say even yesterday, I personally got an email from someone who said I saw a Dodge Avenger with front-end damage over in this parking lot."
Jason Torchinsky, co-founder of Autopian, told FOX 5 that they've done this before. This time around, the company wrote a story, and their community of readers was able to narrow down that these small fragments leftover were from a 2008 to 2014 Dodge Avenger.
"This is the kind of geeky thing we like to do anyway, but the idea that it may actually bring some positive gain for somebody who’s in a terrible situation, like, a hit-and-run victim is awful," Torchinsky said. "If we can do anything to bring any kind of peace, any kind of justice to this family, make them feel better than all of us at Autopian, and all our readers, we’ve done something worthwhile."
Wong’s family says they are still devastated by her passing.
"It’s still a struggle," said David Wong, Mary’s son. "Holidays have gone through, you feel the emptiness of the fact that she’s not there anymore and every single day [we're] constantly thinking about that one night when it all happened."
The family created a GoFundMe just days after she was struck.
Anyone with information can contact the Fairfax County Police Department at 703-280-0543 or submit an anonymous tip online.