Police track down driver in fatal hit-and-run
by JESSICA HOLLOWAY / KVUE NEWS and JESSICA VESS and Chief
Photojournalist SCOTT GUEST
kvue.com
June 11, 2012
AUSTIN — Austin police have tracked down the driver in a fatal
hit-and-run. They are still waiting to make an arrest. The death has
cast a dark shadow over his Southwest Austin neighborhood.
“I’m shaken. This is terrible. It’s just awful,” said Mark Gobble’s
neighbor, Renee Forsythe.
Gobble, 37, was out jogging around 6:30 a.m. Sunday. Austin police say
Gobble would have turned 38, Monday, but died one day before his
birthday.
Orange spray paint marks outline how a driver lost control where Gobble
was jogging, off Slaughter Lane at Vinemont Lane. The lines go off the
road and into the center median. It shows the truck barely missed a
tree, then veered back across the lanes of traffic and jumped the
sidewalk curb. It skid across the grass before hitting a concrete
fence.
Gobble was taken to University Medical Center Brackenridge where he
later died. The husband and father of two is deaf. He never heard the
truck coming. There are now flowers resting on the grass where Gobble
was hit.
Police say the driver did not stop to help. A neighbor who lives on the
other side of the concrete wall where the truck crashed says he heard
the impact and stepped outside.
The neighbor, Richard, says he saw the driver pause, look around, then
take off. Ruts in the grass mark where he backed out.
The driver didn’t get far, though. Police found his crashed truck
abandoned a couple of blocks away.
At 50 miles per hour joggers on Slaughter Lane admit running along the
road can be intimidating, but it’s still a popular running spot.
“I’ve never heard of any cars jumping curbs or hitting people or dogs.
I walk my dogs up and down the street every day. I’ve ridden by bike up
and down the street, never had a problem,” explained Chris Callan.
“People jog it all the time. It’s kind of a freak occurrence. I think
it’s probably not typical,” added Eli Pickering.
Gobble was featured in a 2007 documentary. He joined a group on a trek
to climb Mount Everest. At the time, he worked at the Texas School for
the Deaf and said if he could pass any message on to his students it
would be: “Go out. See the world. Do what you want to do.”
Gobble worked at the Texas School for the Deaf, was recently hired as
an associate professor in Boston and has published several books.
The Texas School for the Deaf released a statement Monday on Gobble’s
death. It says in part:
“We have heavy hearts this morning as we wrestle with the tragic news
of the accident that killed one of our own TSD family members. We wrap
our love and support around the Gobble family on this difficult journey
of loss, and we grieve the dreams that Mark was unable to fulfill.
While at the Texas School for the Deaf (2001-2008), Gobble was a
History Teacher in the Middle School and Associate Principal of the
High School. Mark has just completed the coursework for his doctoral
studies at the University of Texas and had been appointed to the
faculty of Boston University. He leaves a legacy of achievements that
we are proud to have been a part of.”
On behalf of the Boston University School of Education and its Programs
in Deaf Studies, Dr. Robert J. Hoffmeister, director Center for the
Study of Communication and the Deaf, sent KVUE this statement:
“All of us at Boston University are shocked and heart-broken by Mark’s
tragic passing. We were looking forward to Mark joining the Programs in
Deaf Studies as an associate professor. He was a teacher, a mentor, a
leader, and a wonderful husband and father. We are saddened that we
were denied the chance to benefit from his remarkable intelligence, his
zest for life, and his incredible ability to love. Although our time
with Mark had only just begun, the loss is no less intense. We at
Boston University will all miss him dearly, as will the countless lives
he had yet to influence. Our hearts and prayers are extended to his
family.”
Gobble’s wife, who is also deaf, says she wants justice.
Detectives must first get an arrest warrant before taking the driver
into custody. They say they were able to track the driver down through
the vehicle registration.
Funeral services for Gobble have been set for Thursday at 1 p.m. at
Mercury Hall.
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