Family finds body after Spring Valley grandmother killed in hit-and-run crash

SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Loved ones are in search of answers, after a 53-year-old Spring Valley grandmother was killed in an apparent hit-and-run crash on State Route 94.

“I feel empty. I’m sad. I’m angry,” said Marissa O’Gara.

O’Gara said she feels so many emotions, yet remains numb, weeks after the night her grandmother, Delmey, left a birthday party on a Friday night and never returned to her home.

The next morning, a cellphone trace led O’Gara’s brother to the eastbound SR-94, just past Federal Blvd. He looked over the guardrail, and saw Delmey's tennis shoe.

O’Gara was back and forth with her brother, calling hospitals to find her grandmother. When there was no word, he went back to the scene.

“In a ditch, basically, is where she was, and he found her,” said O’Gara.

He called 911 and family.

“It was awful … I stood there holding my sister. That’s all I could do,” said an emotional O’Gara.

According to the California Highway Patrol, Delmey's damaged Kia Forte was located near the scene of the incident, while witness reports of a hit-and-run involving her vehicle led officers to an abandoned SUV near SR-94 and College Avenue.

“It leaves us all kind of distraught, because we don't know what happened,” she said.

The family are now grieving the 53-year-old grandmother. O’Gara said Delmey, who worked in housekeeping for a downtown hotel, was strong, caring, and funny.

“She raised me, and turned me into who I am today, and I can't thank her enough for that,” said O’Gara.

Amid a family's grief, loved ones are making an appeal for tips, in hopes of finding out what happened to Delmey.

“It's already painful enough. We don't need it be a mystery, too … We want justice,” said O’Gara.

The CHP said the investigation is ongoing, and they have not yet made an arrest.

A Gofundme campaign has been set up to help the family with funeral expenses.