A woman was left with potentially life-threatening injuries after a hit-and-run driver struck her while she was walking along Glenn Road in northeast Durham County, and investigators are still trying to track down the truck that sped away. The crash happened last Saturday, November 7, around 5:30 p.m. near Packard Street, about a mile southwest of Falls Lake.
The victim, identified as Windy Michelle Bixler, was walking north along Glenn Road when she was hit by the driver of a white Dodge Ram pickup truck, according to WRAL. She was taken to Duke University Hospital with potentially life-threatening injuries, and the driver did not stop.
As reported by CBS 17, the truck was last seen heading north on Glenn Road after the collision. Investigators have not said whether anyone has come forward with information since the crash.
Conflicting Details On The Suspect Truck's Model
North Carolina State Highway Patrol troopers believe the vehicle involved was a white Dodge Ram pickup from the 2009 to 2012 production years, though accounts differ on the exact model. The station's report attributes to officials a description of the truck as a 1500, 2500, or 3500 model, while separate seed reporting attributes to troopers a belief that it was a 1500, 2000, or 3500 model. Hoodline has not been able to confirm which figure is accurate.
Troopers say the truck likely sustained damage in the crash. “The suspect vehicle is believed to have damage to the right-side mirror,” Lt. Christopher D. Knox said in a news release, per the same account from CBS 17.
A Pattern Of Unsolved Durham County Hit-and-Runs
This is not the first time North Carolina State Highway Patrol has asked the public for help finding a driver who fled after hitting a pedestrian in Durham County. In May, a hit-and-run on Old Oxford Road between Thompson and Hamlin Road left Barry Vaughn dead after he was struck by an unknown vehicle around 10:30 p.m., troopers said, according to CBS 17. In that case, the fleeing vehicle was believed to have windshield damage, and a windshield wiper may have been missing.
Durham has also seen multiple pedestrian hit-and-runs investigated by local police rather than state troopers. The News & Observer reported that Durham police were investigating two such crashes in one weekend in 2024, including the case of 35-year-old Timothy Wright, who was struck and killed while crossing North Miami Boulevard near Raynor Street.
Not every hit-and-run investigation in the region has gone unsolved. In a separate Orange County case involving two injured cyclists, troopers eventually arrested Jorge Salvador Vazquez-Castillo and recovered a 1999 Chevrolet Tahoe believed to have been used in that crash, WRAL reported. Vazquez-Castillo was charged with felony hit-and-run involving serious injury, driving without an operator's license, reckless driving and other offenses.
How To Help Identify The Driver
Anyone with information about the Glenn Road crash is asked to contact the North Carolina State Highway Patrol Office in Durham at (919) 560-6868 during business hours, or *HP(47) at other times, according to CBS 17's report. No arrest has been announced, and the condition of Bixler has not been publicly updated since she was taken to the hospital.
