Last updated at 8:51 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 10
The Anchorage Police Department has released new information on the driver and vehicle believed to have struck and killed 22-year-old Joshua Goodlataw on the Glenn Highway on Saturday.
Goodlataw was walking along the highway when a dark-colored truck struck him and fled, according to another driver who witnessed the incident. Police were not immediately able to provide further information on the vehicle involved or its driver, but “through evidence left at the scene and eyewitness accounts” later developed a description of the suspect.
APD spokeswoman Jennifer Castro said in a statement police believe the vehicle involved is a 2003 or 2004 dark blue Chevrolet Silverado or Avalanche. She added that blue lighting was inside the cab of the truck, and it likely has damage to the headlight, hood, trim and windshield on the passenger side as a result of the collision.
Three people are believed to have been in the vehicle, Castro wrote. She described the driver as a white man who was approximately 5-feet-4-inches tall with a thin build. He was unshaven and last seen wearing a white baseball cap, gray jacket and beige sweatpants.
One passenger was a white woman believed to be in her 20s. She was roughly 5-feet-5-inches tall with a thin build and long strawberry blond hair, Castro said. She was wearing gray or white sweat pants and a white oversized shirt.
Castro said the other passenger is an Asian man, also believed to be in his 20s. He was the same height as the woman, but with a heavyset build. He was wearing a black shirt and gray pants.
The above photo was included in the release, which police believe is similar to the vehicle involved.
Samuel Johns, the founder of the group Forget Me Not, said he knew “Josh” because they’re both from Copper Center. He said Goodlataw was very proud of the fact that he was about to graduate from his apprenticeship with Laborers Local 341. The union posted a photo of Goodlataw, calling him a “kind young man” and a “good worker.” They joined forces with the president of AHTNA and the local IBEW to raise at least $8,500 as a reward for information that leads to an arrest.
“I want people to know he was a really good person you know, he didn’t deserve this at all I mean nobody does,” Johns said.
There’s a bike trail that runs along the Glenn Highway near where Goodlataw was hit. When KTVA asked police why he might not have been using it, a spokesperson said he lives nearby and they believe he was crossing the highway to go home.
Johns said he’s hoping anyone who knows something will come forward so the family can have some closure. He had this message for the driver and anyone who might have information, “If you are out there holding onto something like this, you’ll never find peace.”
Anyone with information on the vehicle or those believed to be in it at the time of the hit-and-run is asked to call APD at 907-786-8900. An anonymous tip can be submitted by calling Crime Stoppers at 907-561-7867.
KTVA 11′s Daniella Rivera contributed to this report.
