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Sheriff, Family Plead for Help in Finding Hit-and-Run Driver Who Killed Young Father

Eloy Aguilar was struck and killed by a vehicle on FM 548 early Friday morning

A Rockwall County family is pleading for help to find the driver who hit a husband and father and left him to die on the side of a rural road.

"It will be really hard just to see my brother in a picture [and] not be able to give him a hug anymore," said Viddy Aguilar through tears. "I feel like it’s a dream or a nightmare."

The Aguilar family's Royse City home was full of loved ones Sunday afternoon.

There were countless family members who arrived from around Texas and Mexico after hearing the tragic news.

Eloy Aguilar, 27, was killed by a hit-and-run driver early Friday morning, according to the Rockwall County Sheriff's Office.

Flowers and a white cross stand along FM 548 just north of North Munson Road where the young man was killed.

The investigation is ongoing, but initial reports suggest Aguilar was walking along the dark, rural road at about 1:37 a.m. Friday when a driver in a Toyota Corolla hit him and drove off.

The family found it hard to believe he would be walking.

"Police think he was walking on FM 548 toward Royse City," Aguilar said. "I don't understand why he was walking if he had a truck and the city is four, five miles away."

She also said she found his truck with the music on.

"His door was open, his phone was laying on the ground, his shoe was laying on the ground," she said.

Sheriff Harold Eavenson told NBC 5 Sunday his department has been following up on leads in the case and would release new details as soon as they were able to be released.

Authorities said they believed the driver did not stop.

Lifelong friend Corey Nelson said his friend was always there for everyone.

"He could just walk up to you and you would instantly connect with him and talk to you for hours," Nelson said.

Aguilar is remembered as a kind soul who liked building furniture and worked as an air conditioning repairman, but "his everything" was his 3-year-old daughter who has been asking for him.

"She’s like 'Where's daddy?'" Aguilar said. "And her mother's like, 'He's at work, he's at work. He'll be back in a little bit.'"

Aguilar's grieving family has a message for the person responsible for their loss.

"I don't have anything against them, I just want to get some closer. I want to know how or why," Aguilar said. "It might be an accident. Accidents happen. I just want to know why they didn't stop, or if they stopped why they didn't call 911. He could've been saved."

The suspect's car is believed to be a 2009-2012 Toyota Corolla with damage to the front passenger side.

The family has set up a GoFundMe account.

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