Friends and family have identified Kim McGregor, 42, as the victim of a hit-and-run on Chemainus Road.
North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP said a man was found dead just off the roadway on Feb. 14. He had been struck by a vehicle. The driver was gone.
Police said they believe they have identified the vehicle involved and the person thought to have been driving at the time.
McGregor had recently recently moved back to Chemainus to be near his mother and father, who are both in care, according to a fundraising page created in his memory.
“Most of us who grew up in Chemainus knew the McGregor family,” organizer Emily Holmes wrote on the fundraising page. “There were some hard years when Bob and Sharon became unwell and many in this community were there to support them, because we take care of each other.”
Holmes said McGregor was living in a small place “and working as much as possible, trying to manage life and live independently.”
She said his brother Terry McGregor has taken time off from his job in Alberta to travel to the Island and make arrangements.
He said in a Facebook post that he learned of his brother’s death when the RCMP showed up at his house.
“My heart is broken, I’m at such a loss right now,” he wrote. “Please, if anyone has any information on this fatal hit-and-run tragedy please call the [North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP].”
The fundraising page has a $15,000 goal and had reached over $4,200 by Friday afternoon. Funds raised will help Terry McGregor with expenses.
“This will be a lengthy and involved investigation and we expect it will take some time,” said North Cowichan/Duncan Staff Sgt. Chris Swain.
“I want to thank the public for their assistance in this serious and tragic investigation, and for their patience as investigators work through its complexity.”
The B.C. Coroners Service is also investigating.
jbell@timescolonist.com
