Following a fatal weekend hit-and-run, a family grieves

Indianapolis, Indiana – After a fatal hit-and-run over the weekend, a family is looking for answers.

A woman was discovered sleeping on the street, so Indianapolis Metropolitan police officers were called to the scene at 12:30 on Saturday. The location was West 71st Street and Georgetown Road.

Her family recognized her as Karen Reffitt, and she was later pronounced dead at the scene.

Reffitt, seventy-two, was unable and went everywhere by foot. Her loss has crushed all of her friends, who she considered family.

“I’m blindsided,” said Amanda Schwartz, Reffitt’s daughter. “This positive influence in my life and a lot of people’s lives ended instantly without a chance to say goodbye or hug her one last time or thank her for being there in my life.”

According to Schwartz, the passing of her mother should serve as a constant reminder to live life to the fullest.

“It just reminds you that you never know what’s going to happen next,” she said. “Get that last hug in, that last ‘I love you’ in, because you just never know when it will be your last chance.”

The driver that hit Reffitt’s mother left the scene, which shocked the daughter of the business.

“I think at this moment, this is so tragic just the loss of my mom that I haven’t been able to wrap my head around that it was a hit and run,” she said.

“Part of me is thinking as another human being, that if I hit another person, I’d be devastated. I just wouldn’t know what to do with myself,” Schwartz said. “The fact that they drove off… that’s another aspect that my mind will have to grapple with.”

The Fatal Crash Investigation Team of the IMPD is in charge of the case.

IMPD can be contacted by anyone with information, or they can give Crime Stoppers a call at (317) 262-TIPS (8477).