VANCOUVER -- Police on Vancouver Island say they have identified the suspect in a fatal hit-and-run crash on the Trans Canada Highway Saturday morning.
The suspect is not in custody, but B.C. RCMP say they believe he is a man whose last known address is in Surrey, but who has been residing on the island in recent days.
Mounties have not released the man's identity, citing the fact that he has not yet been charged for his alleged role in the crash that took the life of one person and injured several others.
The crash happened around 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, according to police. They said a Ford F150 crossed the median on the highway in Ladysmith and collided with an SUV. A third vehicle - a pickup truck towing a trailer - was narrowly missed in the crash, police said.
The driver of the SUV, who police have since identified as a 35-year-old woman from Ladysmith, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police said the driver of the F150 fled the scene on foot and then stole another vehicle. On Sunday, police said they had located the stolen vehicle, but not the suspect in the hit-and-run.
Images from the scene of the crash in front of the Oyster Bay Store show a large debris field in the highway's northbound lanes.
Police, paramedics and fire crews all responded to the scene, and firefighters said they extracted two people from the wreckage.
BC Emergency Health Services dispatched five ground ambulances and an air ambulance. Paramedics treated four patients at the scene and transported two of them to hospital, according to BC EHS.
The highway was limited to one lane of traffic in each direction for most of the day Saturday as investigators worked with an accident reconstruction team to determine what happened in the crash. The highway has since fully reopened.
