SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Yuriy Oleynik, 27, was a father, husband, son, brother and friend.
He died Sunday evening when his motorcycle and a black SUV collided at the intersection of Walerga Road and Big Cloud Way in the Antelope area of Sacramento County.
The driver of the SUV drove away, and the California Highway Patrol is looking for him.
Fighting back tears, Julia Oleynik, Yuriy's sister, said her family wants closure.
"We want justice,” she told ABC10 at the site of her brother’s death, where family and friends set up a candlelit memorial. "I just can't believe someone's willing just to drive away, and we'll always wonder — my mom, my dad, his wife."
She said Oleynik had a wife and 2-year-old daughter.
“She'll grow up not having a father. He can never be there for her,” Oleynik said.
"He was such a bright, young man,” family member Oksana Chipak said. “He was a paramedic. He was a church member and a director of Sunday school from Revival Christian Center."
He taught kids at his church, where his students knew him as lively and fun.
"He was a good person. Very good Christian. Loved God,” a young family member and Sunday school student said.
Longtime friend Dmitriy Filchenko said Oleynik was a member of Sacramento’s Slavic community, as well as an EMT in Sacramento County. He said the local Emergency Medical Services community is also mourning Oleynik’s loss.
The family has set up a GoFundMe page for Oleynik’s widow and daughter.
CHP is still looking for the driver of the black SUV. They say the vehicle is big, like a Cadillac Escalade or Chevrolet Suburban. It has tinted windows and damage on its right rear side.
Anyone with information should contact the California Highway Patrol’s North Sacramento office at 916-348-2300.
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Family and friends gathered at the site where 27-year-old Yuriy Olenik was struck and killed while riding his motorcycle in Antelope, California over the weekend. The driver of the SUV who hit him fled the scene and is still at large.