Woman injured in hit-and-run crash is recovering: Doctor dubs a miracle

Posted at: 06/07/2012 11:39 PM | Updated at: 06/07/2012 11:42 PM
By: Lynette Adams | WHEC.com

Mandi Burnette's doctors are calling her survival and recovery a miracle.

Her family however is grappling with the troubling question -- How could someone do this and remain silent?

“There were a number of people around that may have seen some things.”

Jeffrey Burnette needs your help. He's looking for answers.

Burnette is the brother of the victim who was struck in a hit-and-run downtown this past weekend.

“I've spoken with the police -- they're doing what they can, but the thing is, they haven't had much information from people.”

The unthinkable happened last weekend -- his sister, Mandi, her husband and several friends were planning to meet at the restaurant The Old Toad on Alexander Street.

That meeting never happened.

As Mandi was heading into the restaurant she was hit by a car.

News10NBC’s Lynette Adams says Burnette was crossing Alexander Street just after midnight Saturday morning. We are told she was about here, getting ready to go into The Old Toad, when a car came from this direction, hit her and kept going.

Burnette is an Assistant Psychology Professor at the U of R and a mother of two. She's in the  Intensive Care Unit at Strong Hospital.

“She was hit by the car, slid up, hit the windshield and was tossed up into the air and then landed on the ground and probably broke her pelvis at that time along with shattered her elbow and arm and suffered a number of brain traumas.”

Burnette says the investigation is at a standstill, and police are out of leads.

Charlie Zahn runs the parking lots behind The Old Toad. He says he won't ever forget the sound of the crash.

“I didn't actually see it. It was like lifting the hood of a car and hearing it slam that's what it sounded like.“

Zahn didn't see the car either. Burnette is appealing to anyone who may have been in that area early Saturday morning. He's also reaching out to the driver.

“My appeal is just to come forward and let us know what happened.”

We will keep you informed on this crash as the details become available.

Thursday night, Officer Stephen Scott told us, "The investigation is at a dead end and without any information from any witnesses it is highly unlikely that we will find the responsible party.”

If you have any information you are asked to please call 9-1-1.

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