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Three years after fatal hit-and-run, mother pleads with driver to come forward

Posted at 9:18 AM, May 11, 2018
and last updated 2018-05-11 20:49:48-04

LAWRENCE, Ind. -- A mother is still searching for answers three years after her son was killed in a hit-and-run crash.

Despite the crash being captured on surveillance video, no one has been arrested for his death.

"Last conversation I had with him was at 7:35 p.m. and according to the police report, the accident took place at 10:30 p.m. So three hours after my last conversation, my son was killed," says Julianna Sliger, Jonathan Macklin's mother.

Macklin was riding his motorcycle down Pendleton Pike in Lawrence on May 10, 2015 when he was hit by an SUV. The driver took off into the night, and has yet to be tracked down.

"I can't understand, why, three years later, we see the video footage of a car coming out of this lot but we can't track the car," Sliger said.

Lawrence Police believe the white 2000 to 2006 SUV was likely a Chevrolet Tahoe or Suburban, or GMC Yukon. Sliger is hopeful this will be the year someone who knows something will come forward.

"I don't even know how a person is sleeping at night when they know an innocent driver, his life was taken short," Sliger said, "And I just want them to know that I forgive them, I don't have no harsh feelings, I just would like for them to come forward and tell us what happened."

She hopes her plea doesn't just resonate with her son's killer, but with other drivers.

"Jonathan was riding safe, he was minutes from his house, and this happens on Mother's Day," Sliger said.

Coincidentally, May is Motorcycle Safety and Awareness Month, and Sliger doesn't want another family to suffer the same pain she has.

"Drivers please look," Sliger said. "Bikers have families too. That means when you see a biker on the road, you think about being cautious around that biker and you continue to pray that nobody him him."

Prayer is what Jonathan's mother will continue to lean on until the person responsible for her son's death is caught.

"He had a lot of work in the world to do, he touched a lot of lives and he had so much hope for the future. He just had a bright future ahead of him."

To raise awareness about Jonathan's unsolved death, and for the safety of other bikers, LAMA Indianapolis will be hosting a memorial ride on Saturday, May 12.

Participants are asked to meet at 1 p.m. at Esquire Plaza, 8029 Pendleton Pike, Indianapolis.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Lawrence Police Department at 317-545-7575.

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