BELLEVUE (NBC 26) — The Brown County Sheriff's Office say 82-year-old Kenneth J Kraynik of Bellevue was hit and killed early Monday morning, they believe by three vehicles.
Deputies believe Kraynik had walked from his home nearby, in the early hours of the morning.
Officials received a 911 call just before 1 a.m. for a welfare check on a man who was lying in the road.
"We do believe it was multiple vehicles, but we're still working on this one. One of the drivers did stop and is working with law enforcement. The other vehicles are the two that we're still looking for," said Patrol Captain John Rousseau of the Brown County Sheriff’s Department.
Rousseau said they are unsure why Kraynik was walking at this time of night. They are relying on local businesses and witnesses for security footage and information.
Deputies say one of the vehicles involved did stop and the driver is assisting law enforcement with the investigation.
Officials said they are looking for are a light-colored SUV, which is an unknown make and model, and a second vehicle, a dark-colored pickup truck, which is also an unknown make and model, and was pulling a utility trailer. The trailer did not have any working lights according to initial accounts of the incident, authorities said.
Deputies say both vehicles left the scene after striking Kraynik.
Going forward, authorities plan to use a variety of tools to try to solve the case.
"It's going to be state traffic cameras, our traffic cameras, anything out there that we can use to try to figure out who was in that area and what actually happened last night," said Rousseau.
The Brown County Sheriff’s Office said this investigation is complex.
"We have a team of specialized deputies and highly trained deputies that work on these and that covers everything from mechanical inspections of any of the involved vehicles to make sure it wasn't a mechanical issue, to toxicology, to try to trace backwards and see what happened that led up to it, to identifying anybody else that saw it," said Rousseau.
Anyone with information that could help is urged to call the Sheriff’s Office or you can call crime-stoppers and remain anonymous.
