Northern Virginia residents should know that police are searching for the driver of a car that killed a suburban Washington, D.C., area couple as the pair crossed Oxon Hill Road in a nearby county.

While there were some witnesses to the fatal accident, they were not able to capture the license plate number of the vehicle involved. Witnesses could only describe the vehicle that hit the couple as a gray compact car. It likely has damage to the front end.

The victims did not drive. They rode public transit to work, with the husband, 55, walking his 62-year-old wife to the bus stop so she could get to her job at a thrift shop. He worked nights as a school janitor but snuck in extra time with his wife on their morning walks. The couple had three grown children.

The husband and wife were hit just before 7 a.m. earlier this month. They were struck in the middle lane of the five-lane street, standing in the middle turn lane while waiting to cross the remaining lanes of traffic.

The man died later that evening. Doctors declared the woman dead the following afternoon after analyzing her brain scan.

The couple's friends and family were stunned and saddened by their deaths. A co-worker of the woman for 20 years at the thrift shop described the woman as someone who was always cheerful and helpful to others.

A relative said he could not believe the driver did not stop. The driver would have had to have known that people and not an object were hit.

The tragic accident has left a family searching for answers. Once police find the driver, a criminal conviction could strengthen a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family on behalf of the victims.

Source: Maryland Daily News, "Hit-And-Run Driver Kills Couple Michael Thomas, Sr. and Mildred Freeman," Jan. 8, 2012