A 62-year-old woman died after being struck by a Jeep Wrangler in Aspen Hill on Wednesday night, and the driver who hit her sped off without stopping. Police say the crash happened around 7:21 p.m. near the intersection of Arctic Avenue and Bel Pre Road, where MCFRS spokesperson Pete Piringer later said on social media that the woman was crossing the road when the SUV hit her.
According to mymcmedia.org, officers responding to the scene found the woman with serious injuries. She was rushed to a nearby hospital, where she was pronounced dead. The driver, who was behind the wheel of a Jeep Wrangler, did not stay at the scene, police said.
A witness who saw the crash was able to give officers a description of the vehicle along with its license plate number, according to the same report. That detail could prove critical as Montgomery County police continue trying to track down the driver, who remained unidentified as of the latest reporting. DC News Now reported that the driver is being sought in connection with the deadly crash.
Investigation Still in Early Stages
The Montgomery County Police Department's Collision Reconstruction Unit has taken over the investigation, per Bethesda Magazine. Police have not released the victim's identity, saying her name will be shared only after her next of kin have been properly notified.
No arrest or charges had been announced as investigators worked to piece together exactly what happened on Arctic Avenue. The crash adds to a troubling tally for the county this year — the Bethesda Magazine report notes that at least 13 pedestrians have died on Montgomery County roadways in 2026.
Another Unsolved Hit-and-Run Nearby
The Aspen Hill death comes less than two weeks after another fatal hit-and-run in the region. On Sept. 20, a driver struck and killed 27-year-old Dakota Joseph Grimsby of Poolesville, according to the same Bethesda Magazine article. That crash happened around 1:51 a.m. in the 19600 block of Fisher Avenue, and the driver fled, believed to have headed westbound toward Elgin Road, as reported by WJLA.
The Aspen Hill driver remains unaccounted for; in the Poolesville case, a 26-year-old Frederick man was arrested the following day. For now, investigators in Aspen Hill are relying on the witness's description and license plate information as they work to identify the Jeep Wrangler's driver and determine what led to the fatal collision.
