N.J. police end Evesham search for apparent crash victim

The evidence pointed to a hit-and-run: Human hair was embedded in a smashed windshield and front-end damage indicated the car had struck a pedestrian.

But after scouring Evesham Township - using heat-sensing cameras, ATV patrols, dogs, surveillance video, and helicopters - police still don't have a victim, just a mystery.

"We feel we have exhausted every search option we have," Police Sgt. Joseph Friel said on Friday. "Without a new lead in Evesham, we're done with the search."

Authorities began the search Tuesday night after stopping an 81-year-old Cherry Hill man who was driving a 1997 Ford Taurus erratically at East Main Street and Knox Boulevard in Evesham.

The man had become confused after leaving the Cherry Hill Mall two hours earlier, got lost for two hours, and didn't know what he struck or where he was at the time of the accident.

Police are not convinced the victim is in Evesham Township, Friel said. The roadsides, woods, and hospitals have been thoroughly checked.

Other communities, such as Cherry Hill, Medford, and Mount Laurel, all within the man's two-hour driving range, also have conducted searches. The driver left the mall at 6 p.m. and was stopped shortly after 8 p.m.

On Friday, Evesham authorities used dogs to comb areas along several miles of Route 70 and other roads, Friel said.

They also examined surveillance video and searched the car to collect more forensic evidence, which was sent to the state police laboratory.

The lab determined a substance on the windshield that appeared to be blood was not from a human, police said. No other clues were uncovered.

"But we do know that a human head hit that windshield," Friel said. "We have no doubt about that."

The driver, whom authorities did not identify, spent hours riding with officers this week trying to find where the accident happened, without success.

He told investigators he knew he hit something, thought it was an animal, checked the road, but didn't find anything and left, police said.

"We're done with the search," Friel said. "We're at the end of everything that we can do proactively."

No charges have been filed against the motorist, who has a valid driver's license.

"But this remains an active investigation," Friel said. "We had to assume there was a victim who needed help."