Georgia State Patrol and Crime Stoppers seek trucker in hit/run deaths

Friday, January 1, 1904

photo Georgia State Patrol and Crime Stoppers are searching for the driver of the tractor-trailer that killed a mother and her daughter in a hit and run crash in Bartow County, Ga., in late December.

Georgia State Patrol and Crime Stoppers are searching for the driver of the tractor-trailer that killed a mother and her daughter in a hit and run crash in Bartow County, Ga., in late December.

Witnesses told investigators the maroon and silver tractor-trailer collided with a 1998 Ford Expedition at exit 293 on Interstate 75 North on Dec. 21. The impact pushed the Expedition off the road, against a guardrail and into a support post, where it burst into flames.

The driver, Maria Tabuena, 29, and her 4-year-old daughter, Melina Trichell, were killed. Witnesses told police the tractor-trailer driver never stopped.

The trailer was maroon with two horizontal red stripes on the door, police said, and the trailer's tag was mounted on the left side of the DOT bar.

The license plate may include the letter H and the numbers 1, 2, 3 and 4. Investigators don't know what state the truck was registered in.

Anyone with information on the location of the tractor-trailer and the driver is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 404-577-8477. The call is anonymous and could make the caller eligible for a reward of up to $2,000.