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The search for an alleged hit-and-run driver who struck and killed a motorcyclist a week ago in Taylorsville is going national.
Unified Police Lt. Lex Bell said Wednesday that detectives believe the suspect, 24-year-old Tyler Mackenzie Hurt, immediately fled the state following the Sunday collision that fatally injured Edgar Osvaldo Frayre-Rodriguez, 19.
"Detectives believe he didn't even go home to get his belongings, he just left," Bell said, noting detectives found clothing and other items still inside a basement room Hurt had been using.
On Monday, investigators were able to ping Hurt's cellphone and determine he was in Nevada, but the phone went dead shortly thereafter; Hurt's Facebook page also had been deactivated.
"Right now, we don't know where he went from there [Nevada]. All we know is that he was last headed west, and that he has a history [of past residence] in Arizona and California," Bell said.
Detectives were screening charges with the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office on Wednesday and hoped to obtain additional warrants. Hurt would then be entered into the National Crime Information Center database, putting him on the radar of police nationwide.
Bell said that Hurt — who also closely fit the description of the driver provided by witnesses — is the registered owner of a Jeep Grand Cherokee that hit Frayre-Rodriguez as he rode his motorcycle out of a gas station at 4710 S. 4015 West.
UPD also said witnesses reported that the accident likely was Frayre-Rodriguez 's fault, that he did not appear to be fully in control of the motorcycle as he pulled into oncoming traffic.
Bell said that while detectives believe Hurt was uninsured and driving on an invalid license, he likely would have only received citations for those offenses — not the fatal crash — had he not fled.
The Jeep was abandoned moments after the accident at another gas station, about 3 miles from the hit-and-run scene.
Anyone with information about Hurt's whereabouts is asked to call UPD at 801-743-7000.
Twitter: @remims