Susan Rainwater set out for a solo bike ride last Thursday morning. She would never return.

The 63-year-old mother and grandmother was pedaling along the shoulder of State Route 7, a road near her home of Eatonville, Washington. Just before 9:30 a.m., a driver veered out of the lane, struck her from behind, and took off, leaving Rainwater to die. Hours later, a neighbor noticed the mangled bicycle and found Rainwater’s body a few hundred feet away in the grass.

Her family pleaded for the driver to come forward. Police at first had few clues to go on—only a small piece of the car that had broken off in the collision. A spokesperson for the Washington State Patrol posted a photo of the part to Twitter, asking the public for any information that might lead to a breakthrough.

The photo then made its way to Reddit. Users posted hundreds of comments trying to identify the make and model of the car to which the part belonged. One user, who said he had worked as a vehicle inspector for the state of Maryland, eventually—and accurately—ID’d it as piece of a headlight assembly from a mid-1980s Chevy truck.

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The roadway is open SR7/320th. Troopers and detectives are still looking for a black vehicle believed to be involved in this mornings tragic bicyclist fatality. If you know anything regarding this collision, please call the Washing State Patrol. pic.twitter.com/pafJLeh54i — Trooper Ryan Burke (@wspd1pio) August 9, 2018

On Friday, Washington police got an anonymous tip about a 1986 Chevrolet K-10 pickup truck with damage to its front headlight. That led officers to their suspect, a 37-year-old man from the nearby town of Roy, who admitted to striking Rainwater and fleeing the scene. The suspect, Jeremy Simon, is now being held for vehicular homicide, illegal drug possession, and leaving the scene of a crash. His arraignment is Wednesday.



In announcing the arrest, the Washington State Patrol credited Reddit users for identifying the car:

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WSP detectives made an arrest today for Thursday’s fatal bicyclist hit and run in Eatonville. Reddit users identify a photographed broken car part as a mid 1980s Chevy truck headlight assembly. Local anonymous tip confirms and led to the arrest of a driver of an 1986 Chevy K-10. pic.twitter.com/WaIlkkClfr — Trooper Ryan Burke (@wspd1pio) August 14, 2018

Fellow Redditors also congratulated the vehicle inspector in a followup thread. “Great job,” one wrote. “[D]oubtless there’s a family out there that’s grateful for your work bringing closure to this.”



This isn’t the first time Reddit sleuths have helped in a hit-and-run investigation. Back in January, a driver struck a 53-year-old cyclist near Tampa, Florida, and fled, leaving behind a piece of the car’s air dam. Redditors then figured out that the part belonged to a red 2007-2009 Toyota Camry LE, which the local sheriff’s office later confirmed.

Matt Bevilacqua News Editor, Bicycling Matt is a reporter, writer, and editor who has covered bicycling since 2014, when he cofounded a small bike magazine called SPOKE in Philadelphia.

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