Colorado State Patrol impounds car believed to be involved in Evergreen hit-and-run

The Colorado State Patrol says it has impounded the vehicle investigators believe is the car that struck and killed a 67-year-old mentally disabled man known throughout the Evergreen community. Michael Longfellow was found dead in a median near Kerr Gulch Road after he was struck and killed as he walked on Highway 74 on March 14. 

Longfellow was a common sight walking along the highway as he transited to the Evergreen Starbucks and Walmart. He lived in the Hidden Valley neighborhood about a mile away. He had a mental disability that those who knew him described as schizophrenia.

Longfellow was believed to be crossing the highway at Kerr Gulch when he was struck by a vehicle that the Colorado State Patrol has previously described as a 2010-era white sedan. The Colorado State Patrol says the vehicle they have impounded in the investigation is consistent with the previous description. The car was believed to be traveling northeast toward the Evergreen Parkway exit of Interstate 70 at about twilight on March 14. The Colorado State Patrol now says the vehicle was found outside of Evergreen.

Investigators say the impounding of the vehicle means forensic testing. DNA sampling is typically included in such investigations and results can take many weeks. There are no charges yet against a suspect, but investigators say they are in the process of building a case.

"We believe we know who was driving," said Colorado State Patrol spokesperson Wendy Forbes.

Michael Longfellow's body remained in the median overnight on the Saturday he was struck, March 14, as a snowstorm began. His body was covered by snow and not spotted until Sunday afternoon, March 15, after the snow began to melt.

Longfellow was beloved by people who befriended him, and at the Starbucks, there are plans for a plaque at the table he often occupied, and a customer is funding the purchase of a bench in his honor outside.

Friends and supporters have organized a memorial gathering for him on Sunday, April 19, at 1 p.m. at the Barn at the Evergreen Memorial Park at 26624 North Turkey Creek Road.