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Lucinda Pieczatkowski, 57, was struck and killed by a truck while walking in North Bend on New Year's Eve. And detectives are confident more than one person knows who did it. (Facebook image)

Small community keeps quiet about fatal accident

BY Brandi Kruse  on March 6, 2013 @ 4:07 pm (Updated: 5:06 pm - 3/7/13 )

Two months after a fatal hit and run accident on New Year's Eve near North Bend, detectives hope someone with knowledge of the crime will have the courage to come forward.

Lucinda Pieczatkowski, 57, was struck and killed by a truck while walking on 394th Place NE.

A broken headlight found at the scene led detectives to impound a 1988 Ford F150 pickup truck that they believe is connected to the crime.

A spokesperson for the King County Sheriff's Office said detectives know who owns the truck and some members of the community seem to have a good idea of who was driving it that night.

"It's all very hush-hush," said the parent of a child at Mount Si High School, who spoke to KIRO Radio on the condition on anonymity. "From what I know from my child is that they know who did it but nobody wants to come forward and say anything because they don't want to get him in trouble."

The parent took the information she overheard to a detective, who told her that it was consistent with what he believed happened that night: that a young man left a party in Fall City and hit Pieczatkowski while drunk behind the wheel.

"He had a list of names of kids that were at the party and that he just needed one person to come forward to say that they could put this boy at the party and say that he was driving the car," she said.

Few with first-hand knowledge of the accident have called detectives, despite a $1,000 reward for information.

"Put yourself in my shoes and you'd want the person who did this to your family member to come forward as well," said Pieczatkowski's son, Erik. "Withholding bringing this person forward and not speaking to the facts is unbelievable to me."

West said detectives have made progress in the case, but need the public's help to make an arrest.

"I just think that people need to do the right thing," she said. "The right thing isn't always the easiest to do."

Meanwhile, a blue cross marks the spot where Pieczatkowski was killed.

"Rest in peace Lucy," it reads. "We love you."

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the King County Sheriff's Office at (206) 296-3311 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).

Brandi Kruse, KIRO Radio Reporter
Brandi Kruse is a reporter for KIRO Radio who is as spontaneous and adventurous in her free time as she is on the job. Brandi arrived at KIRO Radio in March 2011 and has already collected three regional Edward R. Murrow awards for her reporting.
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Comments (18)


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  • CH wrote...
    bag of weed + $1,000
    March 6, 2013 4:55 pm
    should get your man/woman. Your lucky mommy we don't live near North Bend.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • monkeyal wrote...
    Skidmore, Missouri,
    March 6, 2013 6:15 pm
    is the place where in the mid 1980's a longtime town bully was gunned down while sitting in his pickup truck. Dozens of mid-day eyewitnesses never talked and the case remains unsolved. Small towns sometimes very tight lipped.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Newton wrote...
    They say its a Kid from a party.
    March 6, 2013 6:52 pm
    You got that from a broken headlight. Ok this one person might drink alot and is well none. Has a favorite watering hole. People like the person cuz spends state money like a fool. I'd start by looking in the direction of an XKOP.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Ron_Spins wrote...
    Uh , was it the registered ownerof the truck?
    March 6, 2013 7:00 pm
    Fingerprints on the steering wheel? Someone was driving drunk with no insurance
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • sportsguru wrote...
    Who said
    March 6, 2013 7:09 pm
    The no snitch policy only happens in the hood.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • hpitantso wrote...
    Only in the Ghetto
    March 6, 2013 9:19 pm
    North Bend has a snitch rule??? I know moreo are thinking what sportsguru wrote... he just beat me too it
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Tyrone DeVille wrote...
    If That Had Been My Wife!
    March 6, 2013 10:36 pm
    Justice would have already been dispensed! North Bend is a disgusting little boil on the a-- of King County!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • CH wrote...
    Tee her up, and drive her down the fairway
    March 7, 2013 4:35 am
    nice job Newton!! She loves it when I call her xxxcop. UR2EZ xxxcop!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • dori monson fan wrote...
    was the friend of pieczatkowski drunk
    March 7, 2013 11:00 am
    when she dropped her off in the middle of a dark road on a rainy night/morning on the way back from the casino? if so it seems to me that driver is equally culpable for this tragedy. why has she not been charged?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • warrior rabbit wrote...
    why on earth would the friend be charged?
    March 7, 2013 1:41 pm
    dori monson fan, what's illegal about dropping her off somewhere remote? Maybe Ms. Pieczatkowski asked to be dropped there, maybe that was an agreed-upon midway point for a buddy low on fuel or cash or time, who knows. There's certainly no legal reason for an arrest. Sheesh.
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  • Annie (1) wrote...
    Exactly What.....
    March 7, 2013 1:44 pm
    would she be charged with-is it against the law to drop someone off?? It is however against the law to hit someone with a vehicle & to also leave the scene. I can't believe the lack of empathy for this lady & her family. Can't people even try anymore to put themselves in this families shoes? What if this were your mother, wife, sister, daughter friend that was struck & killed? As far as the person who did this-& those covering for him/her-this is a HUGE secret to keep... forever.
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  • dori monson fan wrote...
    from all I have read and gathered
    March 7, 2013 2:05 pm
    the car full of 57 year olds coming from the casino was drunk too. seems that the poor judgement of pieczatkowski to get in the car of someone driving drunk was equally as lethal as the kid's bad choice. no the kid shouldn't have fled. but you have a seventeen year old teenage high school boy driving drunk and a bunch of 57 year olds doing the same. who should have known better? and has the driver of pieczatkowski come forward to admit her crime of dui?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Momma5 wrote...
    Insane
    March 8, 2013 7:04 am
    Just because 57 year olds were driving drunk does not negate the culpability of the teenage boy. Who is not 17 but older....and yes he should know better. That is why you have to wait to get a drivers license and wait to drink til you are 21. The Fall City parents who allowed the kids to drink should also be held responsible as well as the parents of the boy who is hiding. Someone died here...yes, it was a mistake but you have to do the right thing. Every day that they don't.....in my mind increases the level of punishment. This is insane! I'm shocked that the community is protecting the boy and not the lady who lost her life. Under your thinking she deserved to die because she was walking drunk on a back road? I truly question what we are teaching our kids. As a mother it would be the most difficult thing to do but it is the right thing to do.
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  • Ronandonlistener wrote...
    I agree with Momma5
    March 8, 2013 10:39 am
    Those that know something should do the right thing.
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