BELLEVIEW, FL (352today.com) – The Florida Highway Patrol has released a photo of the truck and trailer they believe hit 12-year-old Kennadie Resko while she was walking home from school Wednesday afternoon.
The vehicle appears to be a white Ram truck.
If you see this truck, you are asked to immediately contact FHP.
Original story, Nov. 7, 2024, at 3:25 p.m.: Sara Resko, the mother of 12-year-old Kennadie, says she was at work in Summerfield when she heard the news that her daughter had been the victim of a hit-and-run.
What happened
On the evening of November 6, it was dismissal time at Belleview Middle School. Resko’s daughter, Kennadie, was walking south on the east shoulder of County Road 467 (CR 467).
“She walks to my brother’s every day after school, or she walks to her friend’s house, depending on what’s going on,” says Resko. “She’s walked that path since the beginning of sixth grade, and we’ve never had an issue.”
Around the same time, a vehicle described as a white 4-door pickup truck towing a utility trailer was traveling northbound on CR 467.
“Kennadie says the trailer had lawn equipment in it,” says Resko. “I know she knows for sure because my brother owns his own lawn business. She’s very aware of what lawn equipment is, as far as rakes and shovels.”
Resko says Kennadie was cutting across near Belleview Veterinary Hospital toward 110th Street when the oncoming truck hit an object in the road, causing the vehicle to fishtail.
The speed limit in school zones is 20 mph. According to what Resko heard from the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP), the truck traveled at speeds in excess of 30 mph when it lost control.
The trailer then swept into the grass, hitting Kennadie on the right side of her body.
“Her cellphone is broken, so it’s not like she was distracted and walking too close to the road,” Resko says. “It is simply not something that came from her own carelessness.”
Resko says the truck “just kept driving” after hitting Kennadie, leaving her on the side of the road.
Kennadie’s Condition
Resko says Kennadie was trauma alerted to UF Health Shands following the incident.
“The entire right side of Kennadie’s body has severe rubber embedment,” says Resko. “The tire hit her so hard that the rubber was able to embed into her skin. We’re waiting on sedation so they can clean it out.”
Resko says doctors tried to conduct normal cleaning procedures on Kennadie but said the rubber from the tires was so deeply embedded into her skin that it rendered the procedure useless.
“From her knee to her lower hip is just covered in rubber,” says Resko. “Her hip area looks like she has a grapefruit sticking out the side of it.”
She says her daughter has “a lot” of soft tissue damage but says she was able to escape nerve damage.
“With her being able to feel the pain, even with the morphine that they gave her, it means that it is not so deep that it has killed the nerves in her thigh,” says Resko.
In addition to no broken bones or nerve damage, she says her daughter never lost consciousness and has been in constant communication with the family. It’s a very bright silver lining in what could have been a tragedy.
“Now that her adrenaline has worn down, they have increased the doses of what they’re giving her,” Resko says.
Update on Truck’s Whereabouts
The most recent update from Resko by FHP states that they found what they believe is the trailer unattached and abandoned from the truck.
“They believed they had found the trailer abandoned, and they didn’t specify where,” says Resko. “They have several leads on trucks that match the description and that they were pulling cameras in the area.”
Resko says she has reached out to Belleview Veterinary Hospital.
“The person was traveling in the direction of the high school, so they would have had to pass the front of [Belleview Veterinary Hospital] where their cameras are,” Resko explains. “I’m waiting for their response, and hopefully, they have something like a description of the vehicle or the tag number.”
Resko says her niece recently purchased a Ford F-150. Kennedie remembers that the truck that hit her was larger, leading Resko to believe it could have been a Chevrolet 1500.
As of now, there are no leads on the truck’s description, whereabouts, or information on the truck driver.
All that’s left are a few parting words from Resko to the truck driver:
“How do you leave a child after you hit them? How do you leave a child on the side of the road, not knowing if they’re dead or alive? That’s somebody’s kid. You were somebody’s kid at some point. Do you want your parents to find out the same way that I did? It’s heartless. It makes no sense to me that you could hit a child, regardless of the circumstances surrounding it, and leave them there, not knowing the condition they were in.”
As authorities continue the search for the driver, Kennadie’s family remains hopeful for leads and justice. “He’s a coward,” says Resko. “More than anything, he’s a coward.”