Police ID victim of fatal Elkins Park crash

Cheltenham Township police this morning identified the elderly victim of yesterday's hit-and-run accident on Church Road as Frances Gordon of Elkins Park.

The incident occurred near Old York and Church Roads at 5:01 p.m., police said. Gordon most likely was coming from the Elkins Park Free Library when she was struck by a van that was traveling east on Church, police said.

Gordon was taken to Abington Memorial Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. She was 85, according to Goldsteins' Rosenberg's Raphael-Sacks funeral home, which arranged her services.

A witness described the van as a newer-model white or light gray work van with a ladder on top and two rear tinted windows, Cheltenham Police Chief John Norris said. Police described the driver as a white male in his late 40s, or maybe 50 years old, clean shaven with short hair.

After he struck the victim, the van's driver got out, looked around, and then fled eastbound on Church. Two other vehicles trailed the van, and also passed by the victim, police said. The witness who stopped was in the third vehicle behind the van.

Cheltenham police ask that anyone with information about the accident call the department's Highway Safety Unit at 215-885-1600 ext. 476, or the Detectives Division at 215-885-1600 ext. 450. To make an anonymous tip, call 215-885-1600 ext. 777, or visit www.cheltenhamtownship.org.