STOCKTON, Calif — For weeks, the family of 40-year old Taurus Sumner had no idea where he was at.
Raised most of his life in San Diego, Sumner was trying to find his way in life. Being raised by a single mother, it was a life made difficult.
"He didn't have the best of things coming up. A one parent family and no males, no positive male guy around all the time, so I played a pretty big part in his life," said Robert Faggett, Sumner's uncle who spoke to ABC10 from his home in Denver.
This past weekend, the San Joaquin County Coroner informed the family that Sumner died in a hit-and-run accident on July 25 around 6 p.m. in the intersection of South San Joaquin and Church Streets just south of the Crosstown Freeway in Stockton.
Stockton Police Department said it was a late 1990's Toyota minivan, light blue or grey in color, that struck Sumner and left him for dead without stopping.
Detectives captured a photo of the minivan on a surveillance camera.
"Anytime that's someone's involved in a collision, they needed to do the right thing and pull over and call 9-1-1 and render aid to someone that might be injured, and that didn't happen in this case. That's why we really need to figure out exactly who was behind that wheel of that van and once again hold that person accountable," said Officer Joe Silva, spokesperson for Stockton Police Department.
The family said they lost track of where Sumner was living and only learned through the county coroner this past weekend that he had died over two weeks earlier.
They believe the father of two had moved to Stockton to live with a girlfriend a couple years ago.
"Even a person that's not in their right mind should have enough sense to know that, that it's wrong to do something like that and keep on going," Faggett said.
If you witnessed the collision or recognize the vehicle, you are urged to contact the Stockton Police Department.
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