— A body found along westbound Interstate 40/440 in Raleigh Tuesday afternoon has been identified as a missing Apex man, police said. The death of Weston Michael Vandemerwe, 23, is being investigated as a hit-and-run crash.

A work crew found the body near a guardrail along the highway, between Hammond Road and South Saunders Street, at about 4 p.m. At least 15 police officers from both Raleigh and Apex, as well as the City-County Bureau of Identification, responded to the scene before confirming it was Vandemerwe.

The ramp from Hammond Road and the right two lanes of the highway were closed for several hours, causing traffic backups in the area.

Vandemerwe left The Oxford bar on Fayetteville Street in downtown Raleigh around 1:30 a.m. Saturday, friends said. He and his girlfriend, Kaitlyn Holmes, argued outside the bar, and she got in a cab.

Holmes said she assumed Vandemerwe would also take a cab home. He had left his car at a friend's house in Cary.

Vandemerwe's mother, Becky Daly, said two Shaw University students told her that they saw him lying on the ground outside the convention center early Saturday, but that he declined any help.

He was reported missing Sunday afternoon.

Anyone with information about the hit-and-run crash is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 919-834-4357. Crime Stoppers pays cash rewards for tips that help solve cases and callers never have to identify themselves.