Police Still Searching For Leads in Fatal Riverhead Hit-And-Run

A week after she died in a tragic Route 58 hit-and-run accident, police are still searching for the two men who left Kristina Tfelt, 26, of Riverhead to die.

"We are still investigating, looking for leads," Riverhead Detective Sgt. Joseph Loggia said Tuesday.

Loggia said he was "not sure of pedestrian actions," or what led Tfelt's being hit, because "all witnesses so far have been after the accident."

A Riverhead woman has been identified as the victim of a fatal hit-and-run on Route 58 Tuesday.

According to Riverhead Town police, Tfelt, 26, of Northville Turnpike, died after being struck down by a driver who ran from the scene.

Police responded to the motor vehicle accident last Tuesday at 9:21 p.m. at the intersection of County Road 58 and Woodcrest Avenue in Riverhead. Upon arrival, a woman was found lying unconscious in the eastbound lane.

Tfelt, police said, was hit by a 2000 Cadillac Deville that crashed into a retaining wall after striking her and came to rest a few feet away on the sidewalk.

The driver of the car and a passenger both fled the scene on foot, authorities said, heading south on Woodcrest Avenue toward Osborn Avenue.

Riverhead and Suffolk County police and K9 units searched throughout the night for the suspects, who so far have not been found.

Tfelt was transported to Peconic Bay Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead.

Friends and family were left devastated by Tfelt's loss. "Kristina was a daughter, a mother to a beautiful little boy, a sister, aunt, and friend to many," said her friend Gabby Maggiore Hellman. "I am very close with her brother and can't imagine what he is going through. He has two young daughters that will now miss out on growing up without one of their aunts, all because of the cowards that took her life. She is now in a better place with her mother, who passed five years ago." 

The Riverhead police department is actively investigating the accident. Any witnesses are asked to call 631-727-4500 ext. 326.