It was Monday when Rhoda Thomas got the call that her 43-year-old son Dale Thomas had been hit and killed on a Mesquite highway.
"Dale was killed, but I believe I died when the officer called and told me my child was tragically killed,” said Thomas.
His cousin Brion Pierre said the family believes he’d had car trouble Sunday night.
"They believe he was trying to make it to the gas station which was nearest on the other side of the highway,” said Pierre.
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Mesquite police won’t confirm what Thomas was doing, but they say they did find his car abandoned near U.S. Highway 80 after responding to a call about a motor vehicle accident around 9:30 p.m.
They said both a box truck and sedan had hit Thomas, who was lying in the road.
Friday, they announced investigators had determined another driver first hit Thomas before fleeing the scene.
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"It's a stab in the heart, because we know the type of people we are, the type of person he was, himself. We have compassion, and he would've stopped. Anybody with compassion would’ve stopped,” said Pierre.
Thomas leaves behind six kids and has a seventh on the way. He also had three grandchildren.
Family said he relocated to North Texas a couple of years ago for a job.
With no description for the driver that hit him, the family believes the only way they’ll find closure is if someone speaks up.
“Could you please come forward and help us find out what happened to him, because the person who left him there should be held accountable,” said Pierre.
Those with information are asked to call the Mesquite Police Department at 972-285-6636 or Investigator N. Sierra at 972-216-6679.
